This Easter egg just made the world’s fastest car even faster
new york — The world’s fastestaccelerating car is about to get even faster.
Tesla’s high-end Model S will soon be able to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in just 2.4 seconds, following a software enhancement next month that shaves off a 10th of a second. That’s a new threshold that distinguishes it from any other production car on the road.
Tesla Motors chief executive officer Elon Musk teased the update in a tweet — but there’s a twist: when the data is delivered wirelessly next month to all P100D Model S vehicles, the owners will have to figure out how to enable it. It’s what’s known in the tech industry as an “Easter egg”, a hidden feature that requires a specific series of gestures to unlock.
These speeds are crazy-fast. For perspective, the Model S already outpaces sold-out supercars with tiny production runs, such as Ferrari’s $1.4 million LaFerrari, Porsche’s $845,000 918 Spyder, and Bugatti’s $2.3 million Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse. Tesla’s seven-seat Model X SUV will also shed a 10th of a second, putting it on a par with a $1.15 million McClaren P1.
The latest Model S, however, is in a category all its own, especially when you consider it’s a spacious four-door sedan with two trunks. The Model X is the only SUV to make the list.
Speeds like this offer more Gs than Earth, so the rate of acceleration is faster than falling. It can feel difficult to support your head and shoulders if you don’t lean back on the headrest. And perhaps the strangest feeling of punching it on a Tesla is that, with two all-electric motors, the wheels don’t slip and acceleration is practically silent.
Previous Tesla Easter eggs have changed the car’s displays, but this is the first time one will alter performance.
For example, accessing the service login from the car’s 17inch touchscreen and entering access code “007” transforms the Model S graphic on the vehicle’s control panel into James Bond’s submersible Lotus from the 1977 movie The Spy Who Loved Me. Musk bought the Lotus for $1 million and says he plans to make it functional some day. — Bloomberg