Elon Musk may not be the most personable guy in the world, but the man still knows how to have some fun along the way to becoming one of the most influential minds of this generation. Tesla owners will likely attest to this as they’re front and center on all the Easter eggs that Musk and his people at the company have released over the years. The recent launch of the Model 3 brought the conversation of these Easter eggs back to the forefront, and while they don’t really move the needle in terms of making Teslas more attractive in the consumer’s eye, they’re still fun little quirks that add to the appeal of these electric cars.

Over the years, we’ve seen plenty of different Easter eggs from Tesla, some cooler and more fun than others. The Model 3 appears to be no different now that we’re seeing the bag of eggs it has at its disposal. One particularly cool Easter egg, albeit a useless one in the grand scheme of things, is the ability of the navigation system to show a map of Mars and turn the Model 3 on the screen into the Mars Curiosity rover. This particular easter egg can be accessed by pressing and holding the “About Your Tesla” section of the infotainment screen until a second screen pops up. It’s worth mentioning that this second screen actually has a menu of Easter eggs to choose from, including the familiar "Rainbow Road" and a new one called "More Cowbell." Yes, that cowbell. Apparently, Elon Musk has a fever... and the only prescription is MORE COWBELL! Oh, there's also a sketchpad for drawing and writing notes, you know, while driving.

Continue after the jump to read the full story.

Some of the best and nerdiest Tesla Easter eggs

The rainbow road, cowbells, and the Mars navigation system are only three of many Easter eggs that Tesla has come up with for their vehicles. There’s so many more if you scour your Tesla. The trick here is being creative about how you go about looking for them, because like most Easter eggs, they’re difficult to find and are almost always absent on any instruction manuals, as was the case with the rainbow road and the Mars navigation system.

Don’t worry, if you don’t have the time or inclination to look for them, we’ve got you covered with a list of some of the coolest Easter eggs discovered so far.

Tesla sketch pad

Ah, yes. As if Tesla doesn’t have enough reason to distract you from driving your cars, the company actually has a hidden sketch pad that can be accessed in a number of different ways. The first one is to follow the same instructions when you’re trying to access the Mars navigation system. Press and hold the “About Your Tesla” button and wait for the pop-up screen to appear, and the sketch pad will be there for your pleasure.

The other way of accessing it is to tap the “T” at the top of the main monitor three times. Do this and the whole touchscreen turns into the sketch pad, complete with a full color palette. While I don’t recommend drivers use the sketch pad when they’re driving, it’s fair game for the front passenger, who can channel his inner Van Gogh and work on his masterpiece. There’s even an option to submit the drawing to Tesla, which in turn will critique your work. There are no prizes for awesome marks, but it’s at least a cool way to waste time on the road, especially when traffic beckons.

The James Bond submarine

This Easter egg is especially cool, particularly for those who count themselves as fans of James Bond like Elon Musk. There’s a way to actually access the Lotus hybrid vehicle submarine from the movie The Spy Who Loved Me and turn your Tesla into 007’s most unique ride. All you need to do is once again press and hold the “T” at the top of the touchscreen. Should you do this properly, the system will ask for an access code, which by the way is simply “007.” Input that, go to the menu’s air suspension page, and voila, you’re Tesla has been turned into the Lotus submarine.

Even better, Tesla actually tinkered with the suspension settings of the car, or at least tied into the submarine reference by changing the range of suspension options to “0 to 20,000 leagues,” a clear allusion to the environment the submarine is in when it’s under water and the famous Jules Verne novel. The gimmick itself is cool, but it also showcases Musk’s obsession with Britain’s secret weapon. In fact, the actual submarine that was used in the filming of the movie is owned by – yep – Musk himself. The man bought back in 2013 for a princely sum of $866,000.

The rainbow charger

For this Easter egg, you’re going to have to step out of your car and charge it. Yes, Tesla’s basket-full of Easter eggs extends all the way to its charge port. To access this particular trick, you’re going to have to press the charger 10 times in rapid succession while charging your car. It’s not advisable to mess around with the charger in the process of charging, but if you want to see the port light up and put on its own version of a Christmas lights show, you’re going to have to take the risk and do it anyway. It’s actually pretty cool doing it the first time, but like most Easter eggs, the novelty wears off the more you do it.

The Christmas special

Speaking of Christmas lights shows, Tesla uncorked an awesome Easter egg over the holidays last year for owners of the Model X. It was part of the December update and seeing as Christmas was around the corner at that time, the company included a holiday light show Easter egg, complete with music from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Some owners actually got a good kick out of it after accessing the Easter egg by inputting “Holiday” on the same access code menu as the Lotus submarine. Do that, step out of the car, lock up, and enjoy the show.

The Monty Python playlist

This particular Easter egg is relatively new as Musk only hinted at it two months ago. Basically, if you’re a fan of Monty Python as Musk proclaimed he is, you can access any of the skits from the comedic trope. All you have to do is tap the voice button on the steering wheel and say “play Monty Python” and the feature will activate by itself. There is a caveat to this Easter egg though, particularly for those who live outside of the U.S. When Musk revealed the Easter egg back in June 2017, he added that the feature doesn’t work outside of the U.S. yet. But that was a little over a month ago so if go ahead and check if it works now.

The nod to Mario Kart

I’d be remiss if I ended this list without mentioning the aforementioned rainbow road from Mario Kart. This Easter egg was actually one of the first to have been discovered and it’s still a personal favorite of mine because of its ties to Mario Kart. Accessing it is pretty simple, too. All you need to do is rapidly press the Autopilot button four times and that’s it! The street on your display monitor immediately turns to the rainbow road from Mario Kart and while the car itself doesn’t transform into Mario or Luigi’s chosen steeds, the feature is accompanied by Saturday Night Live’s rendition of “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” which includes Ferrell making the now infamous cowbell sound.

References

Read our full review on the Tesla Model 3.