Thanks to an Easter egg in the Tesla's 7.0 software, the company's cars are ready to help owners with a question plaguing humanity since the beginning and make a clever allusion to a classic piece of science fiction. Drivers might need a planet-sized computer to figure out what it all means, though. And they really should remember to bring a towel.
As the video above shows, activating this fun little Easter egg is as simple as changing the name of the Tesla to the correct two digits. All it does is add some new text on the instrument cluster and center screen, but it's still a fun reference Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy where a computer decides that 42 is the answer to the secret of life, the universe, and everything. Once we figure out the question, we'll be all set. Until then, when you're driving your fancy electric car over this special computer set up to calculate said Ultimate Question, at least you won't be creating any tailpipe emissions as you do so.
With this latest discovery, Tesla shows it is happy to make a habit of hiding lots of clever little pop culture references in its software. One of them was already a play on both Elon Musk's Lotus Esprit submarine and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. More recently, the company gave a nod to the movie Spaceballs and its for owners who activated Ludicrous mode in just the right way. It didn't make the car actually achieve plaid speed, but you never know what the next over-the-air update might bring.
As the video above shows, activating this fun little Easter egg is as simple as changing the name of the Tesla to the correct two digits. All it does is add some new text on the instrument cluster and center screen, but it's still a fun reference Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy where a computer decides that 42 is the answer to the secret of life, the universe, and everything. Once we figure out the question, we'll be all set. Until then, when you're driving your fancy electric car over this special computer set up to calculate said Ultimate Question, at least you won't be creating any tailpipe emissions as you do so.
With this latest discovery, Tesla shows it is happy to make a habit of hiding lots of clever little pop culture references in its software. One of them was already a play on both Elon Musk's Lotus Esprit submarine and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. More recently, the company gave a nod to the movie Spaceballs and its for owners who activated Ludicrous mode in just the right way. It didn't make the car actually achieve plaid speed, but you never know what the next over-the-air update might bring.
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