What should have been a routine Tesla robotaxi trip in San Francisco instead turned into a barrage of built-in "fart mode" effects, with the car pumping out synthetic wheezes, squelches, and similar noises throughout the ride.
Here's what to know
According to a reporter for the San Francisco Standard, the problem unfolded on a Hayes Valley trip and lasted the whole way, with neither the passenger nor the safety driver able to switch it off.
Tesla added the feature in a 2018 holiday software update. Officially named "emissions testing mode," it typically lets owners choose different fart sounds, change the volume, send the noise to a selected seat, and trigger it either by voice command or seat contact.
In this case, however, the feature appears to have malfunctioned inside a robotaxi, where a novelty tool in a privately owned vehicle became a customer-service issue as passengers had no way to disable it themselves.
The sounds were still going when the trip ended.
Under the Instagram Reel of the incident, one commenter said, "It's farting because someone set it to fart on turn signals."
TCD Picks » Quince Spotlight
💡These best-sellers from Quince deliver affordable, sustainable luxury for all
Another joked, "Genius! Blame the car! Why didn't I think of that?"
More background
The incident also highlighted the current status of Tesla's robotaxi service in California. The Standard reported that, unlike Waymo, Tesla's vehicles are still not approved in the state as fully autonomous cars, so a human driver must remain at the wheel even while the software handles much of the driving.
That setup created an unusual contrast in this case: a high-tech automated ride service that still depended on a person in the front seat who could not regain control of a basic in-car setting. A glitch like that affects more than the joke itself if it undermines comfort, confidence, or the sense that the vehicle is working as intended.
The driver said he had been "playing with the settings" around the time the reporter summoned the ride and then lost control of them. The reporter also checked the app from the passenger side in an effort to stop the feature but said there was "no such luck."
What's being done?
One safeguard already in place is the presence of the safety driver, who in this ride could communicate with the passenger, attempt changes in the settings, and monitor the trip while the software remained partly in control, even though he could not solve the fart-mode problem.
The safety driver said there are five fart levels, and he tried adjusting the controls, including the volume, without success. The incident suggests the company's test vehicles still rely on software menus and feature controls that may not be fully separated from novelty options.
Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.
