Tesla hacker reveals secret “Elon mode” to use FSD hands-free
Tesla CEO Elon Musk may have his own super-secret driver mode that allows him to drive Tesla cars hands-free.
The hidden feature, aptly named “Elon Mode,” was discovered by a Tesla software hacker known online as @greentheonly. An anonymous hacker has been digging into the car’s code for years and has discovered things like how Tesla can block the use of power seats or the central camera in the Model 3 before it’s even officially activated.
After finding and enabling Elon Mode, greentheonly dared to test the system and published several rough videos. He didn’t share the literal settings of the “Elon Mode” on the screen, but he claims that it is real.
The hacker discovered that the car did not require any attention from him when using Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software.
FSD is an advanced vision-based driver assistance system that is currently in beta, but is available to anyone who has paid $15,000 for it. Last month, this software was the subject of an internal leak, which stated that FSD had received thousands of complaints from customers about sudden braking and sudden acceleration.
Tesla’s Autopilot system, the first generation of its on-road driver assistance system, requires you to touch the steering wheel periodically to confirm that you are paying attention while driving. Owners often complain about the frequency of system checks, which is why some call it “annoying.”
In addition to the existing manual steering confirmation, cars that have a central interior camera (above the rearview mirror) monitor drivers to make sure they are looking forward – but this is also a rather demanding feature. For example, it turned out that you can’t wear a baseball cap because the system can’t tell whether you’re looking forward or not.
