Tesla Removes Sonic the Hedgehog Game From Its Vehicles

Sonic the Hedgehog in a Tesla

The Verge

Tesla has officially removed the Sonic game from its vehicles in 2022’s holiday update.

The Austin-based automotive company added Sonic the Hedgehog with its 2021 holiday update, so the game was only available to owners for one year and required a USB controller to play.

In early 2022, Tesla added Sonic to vehicles that did not have data-capable USB ports in the front (only in the glovebox). “A game controller plugged into the glovebox USB port is required,” reads the version 2022.28.1 release notes.

Sonic the Hedgehog in a Tesla

Sonic the Hedgehog is a platform video game that was released in 1991 by Sega for their Genesis gaming system. Players control a blue hedgehog, named Sonic, to run at fast speeds on a mission to overtake Dr. Robotnik, a mad scientist who has locked away animals inside robot bodies while chasing after the Chaos Emeralds.

It’s currently unclear as to why Tesla has removed the game or if it’ll be back. The game may be gone due to a bug or license expiration. Sega first announced that Sonic the Hedgehog was coming to Teslas in December 2021.

With the addition of Steam to some of its vehicles, Tesla may be transitioning away from adding games itself. Instead, they’ll focus efforts on ensuring Steam is running as smoothly as possible on its operating system so users can enjoy the vast catalog of games within Steam's library, including a plethora of Sonic games.

If you have a Model S or Model X with Steam integration, Sonic the Hedgehog 1 is available in the Sonic Origins game; a paid game available on Steam.

Will Tesla add Sonic the Hedgehog back to its own gaming library? It's anyone's guess at this point, but the removal of Sonic was not mentioned in the 2022 holiday update release notes, so it could have been accidental. Tesla is the only one that knows how often these games are played and whether it's worth their time and money adding them. It may make more sense for Tesla to focus on building out other features for owners to use and enjoy.

Tesla Teases New 7-Seat Model Y

The third row in the first-generation Model Y

Not a Tesla App

In a move that’s sure to excite those with larger families, Tesla has started teasing the return of the seven-seat configuration for the Model Y. In a new marketing email sent out to customers recently, Tesla explicitly highlights the vehicle’s spaciousness.

“Ready for anything with long range, seating for up to seven, and enough room for everyone’s gear.”

The seven-seat Model Y was initially offered in late 2021, but it hasn’t been available since Spring 2023. The return of the new variant will be an addition that many have been waiting for, as the next vehicle with that much passenger space in the line-up is the Model X, starting at almost double the price.

First-Gen Model Y Third Row

The original seven-seat Model Y was extremely popular in the Asia-Pacific and European markets, and it still sold fairly well in North America despite differences in preferred vehicle sizing and spaciousness. It offers additional seats for larger families with young children, but space in the third row is minimal.

The seven-seat variant makes the Model Y more competitive against other three-row SUVs on the market. The video below features the seven-seater, first-generation Model Y.

Power Reclining Third Row?

The refreshed Model Y was launched with power-reclining second-row seats, a huge plus for practicality and ease of use. The power-reclining second-row seats are extremely popular with families and are very helpful, as you can control them from the front screen rather than needing to open the rear doors.

Tesla is likely to integrate power-reclining seats into the third row and potentially keep them for the second row as well. With the second row sliding forward and backward for easy entry, as well as allowing the second and third rows to fold flat for additional cargo room when needed.

Launch Date and Price

Tesla’s tease of the seven-seat variant is likely just the start. With recent sightings of the Model Y Performance variant hitting the Nürburgring, it seems Tesla has a lot in store for this summer. If you’ve been waiting for the seven-seat variant, it seems like it’ll be just a few short months away at this rate.

While we haven’t seen any production samples or other details regarding dates yet, Tesla previously priced the seven-seat option at an additional $2,000 USD ($3,000 CAD). The seven-seat option will likely only be available on the Long Range AWD and Long Range RWD variants, not the Performance model, similar to the first-generation Model Y.

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Tesla’s First Autonomous Vehicle Delivery to Happen on June 28th

Not a Tesla App

In Elon’s flurry of posts on X about FSD yesterday, he also revealed the date that another moment of peak science fiction would be occurring — June 28th. Tesla expects to conduct the first-ever self-delivery, where a brand-new Model Y will depart from the production line and arrive directly at its new owner’s home without any human intervention.

Imagine ordering a vehicle, and a few days later, rather than needing to pick it up, it simply arrives in your driveway and notifies you via an app that it has arrived. That’s no longer the talk of science fiction; it is quite literally something that is likely to happen this month.

Expect a Model Y Delivery in Austin

Considering everything Tesla has done so far, we’re fairly certain that the first self-delivered vehicle will be a Model Y in Austin, in the same geo-fenced area where Tesla’s Robotaxi will operate. FSD is highly optimized for the Model Y, and it’ll take some time for those optimizations to trickle down to the rest of the fleet. It’s not clear if FSD performs better on the Model Y because it’s the most popular vehicle and, therefore, Tesla has the most data for it or if Tesla explicitly chose to focus more on their most popular vehicle.

Tentatively, June 22.

We are being super paranoid about safety, so the date could shift.

First Tesla that drives itself from factory end of line all the way to a customer house is June 28.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 11, 2025

Why Self-Delivery?

While a car driving itself is something truly different from what other manufacturers offer, there are also numerous strategic advantages for Tesla to do so. This includes drastically reducing last-mile delivery costs by minimizing the need for car carriers, delivery drivers, and even delivery personnel at your local Tesla center. For customers, it could mean a faster, more flexible delivery method - and one absolutely unforgettable welcome to Tesla ownership.

We recently took a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of vehicles delivering themselves to customers. While it’s all positive for Tesla, there are some potentially negative sides to it as well.

A Futuristic Glimpse

When you step back and look at it, Self-Delivery is a logical extension of Unsupervised FSD and the Robotaxi network in general. Self-deliveries are expected to run on the same software stack that powers the Model Ys currently roaming Austin’s streets autonomously, which means there is little for Tesla to do other than enable specific instructions for self-delivery during the final vehicle configuration steps.

Robotaxis currently run a newer version of FSD than what’s available to the public, but these self-delivered vehicles will likely be on the same version when they’re delivered.

Given Elon’s note that the dates could shift, this could easily be moved to early July; however, either way, it seems like we’re just weeks away from this monumental event, which will further reduce the cost of Tesla vehicles.

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