Chukrut Budrul/SOPA Images/LightRocket has a photo of thechorus.
As part of its annual holiday software update,Tesla has released a new feature that lets drivers turn their cars into megaphones.
The update is only available in newer models of the electric car maker. The feature uses external speakers that were installed in recent vehicles to meet US regulations. Electric cars should be able to alert pedestrians to their presence at low speeds.
A video of the feature shows the speakers repeating the driver's speech with a slight delay and echo-y bass- heavy distortion. It is not clear if this distortion can be changed.
It is not the first use of external speakers for cars. A Boombox mode introduced in last year's holiday update lets owners replace the default horn sound with any custom audio clip, while Sentry Mode lets owners stream live footage from the cars' external cameras, also includes a remote audio function.
A feature that let drivers play video games while driving will be removed by the company. A megaphone is less of a distraction than Super Breakout.
