Hacker claims to discover “Elon Mode” for Tesla self-driving cars

A hacker allegedly discovered “Elon Mode” for Tesla vehicles on Twitter. Under the pseudonym “Green” (@greentheonly), the white hat hacker claimed he found features and updates for these electric cars before announcing or implementing them. More importantly, Elon Mode activated autopilot mode without the “dreaded nagging.”

You can find numerous reports of hidden features in various gadgets and apps. Since modern cars have more digital systems, we would inevitably find similar functions in these vehicles. Tesla fans would benefit from seeing the possible upgrades for their favorite EVs. Moreover, everyone else could see how automobiles have changed due to technological advancements.

This article will discuss Elon Mode and the several tests Green conducted for this alleged hidden feature. Later, I will cover the previous issues with the official full self-driving feature.

What are the features of Elon Mode?

because of FSD foolishness).
So I was more tolerant towards the constant flow of cars passing me on the right and merging in front of me.
It also helped that I did not need to watch for the dreaded nag.
Overall I spent a bunch of time thinking about it and came up with this: pic.twitter.com/TaPQgClRa9

— green (@greentheonly) June 17, 2023

Electric vehicle news website CleanTechnica detailed how the hacker Green tested the hidden feature. It says greentheonly has “uncovered a large variety of features and updates for Tesla cars before those features and updates were announced or implemented.”

On June 17, the Twitter user “Dirtiest Tesla” asked, “What’s Elon Mode?” Green replied, “It’s a special AP [autopilot] mode where there are no nags. The braking is less intense, and probably some other changes under the hood I did not fully explore.”

Green activated the hidden function and drove 600 miles with Tesla software 11.4.3. He compared this trial to his previous experiments and felt satisfied. “It went much better than the prior experiment, obviously.

“Many contributing factors. I was not as late, so I did not mind as much (still ended up 5 minutes late solely because of FSD foolishness). So I was more tolerant towards the constant flow of cars passing me on the right and merging in front of me. It also helped that I did not need to watch for the dreaded nag.”

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The “dreaded nag” refers to the Tesla FSD’s system warnings to keep the driver’s eyes on the road. Also, another Twitter user, Prestige Worldwide, noted Green only drove on a highway.

That person said the hacker would have a different experience if he drove in the city. In response, Green agreed and explained he would only use Elon Mode for highways.

According to CleanTechnica, Green said he would not use this feature for short city trips. Also, he concluded Elon Musk’s auto company wouldn’t support Robotaxi capability anytime soon. The autopilot feature could be worth its $15,000 price if it reaches “Level 3.”

What are the other issues with Tesla cars?

The hacker Green said he felt satisfied with his Elon Mode experience. According to Yahoo Finance, he pointed out some of the feature’s flaws.

He said it refuses to overtake slower vehicles, struggles with road potholes and debris, and changes lanes unnecessarily. In 2022, the EV maker raised the price of its FSD software from $12,000 to $15,000, or a monthly subscription fee of $199.

However, its full self-driving technology is only at level (L2) at the time of writing. According to the Society of Automotive Engineers, Level 2 is Partial Driving Automation.

It is also known as an advanced driver assistance system. The car controls both steering, accelerating, and decelerating. However, it is not fully self-driving because a human can control the car anytime.

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Green said the autopilot feature would only be worth $15,000 if it reaches L3. Level 3 automobiles have “environmental detection” features, letting them adapt to specific situations.

For example, the car may automatically take over control in traffic jams to let the driver rest. In February 2023, Tesla issued a voluntary recall for 362,758 vehicles with its FSD Beta program.

According to Yahoo, the company warned it “may cause crashes.” Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigated Tesla’s autopilot feature following fatal crashes in California and Florida.

Conclusion

White hat hacker Green claims he discovered a hidden Tesla car feature called Elon Mode. He said it has less intense brakes and does not incessantly nag drivers to watch the road.

At the time of writing, Tesla has not shared more details about this allegedly hidden feature. Also, its upgrades may or may not appear in future Elon Musk automobiles.

Nevertheless, electric vehicles will undoubtedly gain more features as global adoption continues. Learn more about those and other digital trends at Inquirer Tech.