We are not at all in favor of leaving your dog in the car -the dangers it entails can be significant-, but in case you have no other choice, at least know that Tesla has thought of them. A new software update for the brand's cars has just introduced the so-called Dog Mode (Sounds like a joke, but it's not.) That's how it works.
Tesla and his new Dog Mode
Leaving a dog in a car is foolhardy. mostly in summer. In addition to the anguish that the animal may feel when being locked up, there is the great risk that your best friend may die from heat stroke or lack of oxygen if you delay more than necessary. And then there is, of course, the integrity of your vehicle, and it would not be the first time that someone, with all their good intentions, breaks a car window when they see an excessively nervous animal inside, with signs of fatigue or simply thinking that has been abandoned.
Although the ideal would be that you would not have to leave your dog inside the car, Tesla has thought that its users could find themselves in this situation at some point and has released a software update -which began to be deployed yesterday in the US- with which introduces a new function in its vehicles: the so-called Dog Mode.
This feature is responsible for establishing an optical temperature inside the car so that the dog is comfortable at all times and do not suffer a heat stroke. To do this, you only have to access the options menu of the glorious Tesla screen, and select this mode, which automatically activates a suitable temperature setting for the dog.
The function is activated with the car parked, by clicking on the fan button, located at the bottom of the screen. You can choose temperature limits and leave to carry out the errand you have knowing that the car will continue to maintain the air conditioning settings that you established. In the event that the car battery drops below 20%, you will receive a notice in the app on your phone.
Tesla has also thought about the possibility of someone breaking the window of your car if he sees a dog inside. Although it is an act that in many countries entails legal implications -is the case of Spain, where if you see an apparently abandoned dog inside a car, you must call 091; if you break the window, you could be in trouble - in other places, such as certain states in the United States, the action is protected by law, so someone could find that, despite leaving the dog better than a resorts, The window of his Tesla has been broken.
To avoid this, at the moment of activating the Dog Mode, a notice on the screen readable enough. It indicates that the owner will be back shortly and that there is nothing to worry about because the temperature inside is at "x" degrees. This is how Elon Musk himself pointed it out to a follower who posed the question on Twitter:
- Tesla (@Tesla) February 14th 2019
It is not the only novelty from Tesla. Likewise, the company has launched in the same package a new security function called Sentinel mode. When this is active, the car remains "vigilant", continuously monitoring what is happening around it. Any minimal threat it identifies - such as someone leaning on the car - will cause it to go into action. alert mode y activate a warning on the screen that the car cameras are recording.
in case something More serious happens (for example, that a window is broken), the car alarm will be activated, the screen will be set to maximum brightness and the audio system will play a sound at maximum volume. Tesla owners will receive a notice in the phone app and they will be able to obtain a copy of the recording made by the vehicle after -this must be left previously prepared with a pendrive connected to the car to which the images go.
A complete update pack, huh?