Following an announcement last week, Tesla has released its new dog mode.
Designed to keep pets safe and comfortable while their owners run a quick errand, dog mode keeps the climate control system running. When activated, the system will also display a message on the infotainment system which informs people the animals aren’t in any danger.
As you can see in the video, the infotainment system says “My owner will be back soon. Don’t worry!” The message then says the climate control system is on and shows the current interior temperature. This will hopefully prevent people from breaking a window in an attempt to ‘save’ your dog.
Besides releasing dog mode, Tesla detailed its new Sentry mode. Designed to help prevent vehicle thefts, the system “continuously monitoring the environment around a car when it’s left unattended.” As Tesla explained, Sentry mode uses the vehicle’s exterior cameras to detect and classify potential threats.
If the system determines there is a minimal threat, such as someone leaning on the vehicle, it will enter an “Alert” state. When this occurs, a message on the infotainment system will appear warning people that cameras are recording their activity.
In more serious situations, such as an attempted break in, the vehicle’s alarm will be activated and the audio system will begin playing at its maximum volume to attract attention. The infotainment system will also be brightened and owners will receive a notification on their Tesla app.
One of the more unique features about Sentry mode is its ability to record video of the incident as well as the previous ten minutes. However, this will require owners to install a formatted USB stick into their vehicle before Sentry mode is activated. It’s also worth noting that Sentry mode won’t be enabled by default and users will have to enable it each time they want to use it.
Sentry mode started rolling out to the Model 3 yesterday and it will soon be followed by Model S and Model X vehicles built after August 2017. While it can’t prevent thefts, Tesla noted FBI data showed there was an attempted or successful vehicle theft every 40.8 seconds in the United States in 2017.