Tesla Santa Mode Easter Egg: How to activate it and what it does

Model S

Model 3

Model X

Model Y

Teslas offer numerous easter eggs. While most of them are fun to try, Santa Mode is easily one of the most popular and fun easter eggs. You'll find yourself coming back to Santa Mode again and again throughout the years.

What Santa Mode Does

After turning on Santa Mode you'll notice various visualizations have changed.

Santa Mode will turn your car on the screen into Santa and his sleigh. The sleigh will be pulled by two reindeer and you'll even see him carrying presents in the back. If you look closely, you'll see that Santa's sleigh is actually a modified Tesla.

You can pan and zoom the visualization to take a closer look at his sleigh.

You'll notice that the roads have suddenly been covered in snow. If you pay close attention, you'll even see that it has now started to snow.

Other vehicles that are normally rendered on the display will also change. Instead of the other vehicles on the road appearing as a car or truck, they have all now been transformed into reindeer.

There are subtle details that show that Tesla went the extra mile with this easter egg.

For example, the speed at which your vehicle and the other vehicles are moving will affect how fast the reindeer legs move. When you slow down, your reindeer will also slow down to a trot.

Your turn signals will also change. Instead of playing the traditional clicking sound that a turn signal makes, the sound has been changed to sleigh bells.

If you look closely at the collars your reindeer are wearing, you'll also see that they light up and flash red when you use your turn signals. If you use your left turn signal, the left reindeer's collar will flash, and if you're using the right turn signal, then the right reindeer's collar will flash. It's subtle, but nicely done.

How to Activate Santa Mode

There are several ways to activate this easter egg. Depending on the way you activate Santa Mode a different song will be played. Unfortunately like other easter eggs, the volume of the song is fairly loud and can not be adjusted.

You can activate Santa Mode by tapping the Apps icon, the icon that looks like a box with an up arrow, and selecting Toy Box. After opening the Toy Box, you can scroll down to Santa Mode and turn it on.

You can also activate Santa Mode via a voice command. If you use the command "Ho Ho Ho," your Tesla will activate Santa Mode and the song "Run Rudolph Run" by Chuck Berry will play.

This is the default song that is played and the one that will be used if you activate the easter egg through the Toy Box.

However, there is an alternative song that can only be activated via a voice command. If you use the voice command, "Ho Ho Ho, Not Funny," then Santa Mode will turn on and the song "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" will be played.

The only difference between the various ways of activating Santa Mode is the song that is played.

Turn Off Santa Mode

To turn off Santa Mode, you can go back to the Toy Box and turn off the slider for Santa Mode, or you can simply use the voice command "Turn Off Santa Mode."

If you keep Santa Mode on, the song will automatically stop and not repeat when it's complete. The visualizations and other features will remain on.

External Speakers (PWS)

If your car is equipped with a Pedestrian Warning System (PWS), you'll also have the ability to play the Santa Mode music through the outside speaker of your car.

You'll know if your car is equipped with the PWS if it emits a low sound on the outside when traveling a low speeds.

In order to play 'Run Rudolph Run' or 'Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer' through your car's external speaker you'll need to activate the easter egg through the Toy Box and turn on the slider for "Spread Cheer."

Available on All Models

Santa Mode is available on all Tesla models, including the Model S, Model 3, Model X and Model Y. The Santa Mode easter egg remains largely the same regardless of the Tesla model you have. Although it does require a vehicle with the PWS in order to have the option to play music outside of your vehicle.

Tesla Insurance launches in Arizona and Ohio; now offered in five states

If you've had a Tesla for a few years then you probably remember what it was like getting an insurance quote for the vehicle.

Experiences vary, but it was not uncommon to come across insurers who would not insure a Tesla or who asked for an extremely high premium.

In fact, the problem was so big that Tesla decided to do something about it. They released their own car insurance division.

Tesla launched Tesla Insurance in 2019. Unfortunately, it was only offered in California at the time. Car insurance laws vary by state so Tesla needs to be approved in each state they want to do business in.

Tesla only expanded beyond California in the second half of 2021. In October Tesla expanded to Texas and last month Tesla added on Illinois.

Tesla is now expanding even further. As of today, Tesla is now offering car insurance in Arizona and Ohio as well.

In a tweet last year, Elon talked about the slow regulatory process for offering car insurance and mentioned that Tesla was looking to offer insurance in New York as well.

The regulatory process for approval to offer insurance is extremely slow & complex, varying considerably by state. Tesla is hoping to offer real-time (based on actual driving history) insurance in Texas next month. Probably next year before we get approval in New York.

-Elon Musk

Tesla determines your car insurance rate using their Safety Score algorithm, which is similar to Progressive's Snapshot rewards. Once you approve Tesla to collect driving data, they'll monitor your vehicle for harsh stops, fast turning, and following too closely.

Your insurance rate will then be based on your driving habits and your chances of getting into an accident.

Some drivers report having much lower rates with Tesla Insurance, while others report that their rate was lower with their current insurance company.

If Tesla offers insurance in your state, you may want to consider getting a quote directly on their site to see if you can lower your premium.