Tech expert Zara Stone detailed her bizarre experience which saw a fart mode seemingly malfunction and inflict a barrage of grim-sounding flatulence during her journey
A tech expert was forced to endure a barrage of ‘squelchy farts’ while riding inside a Tesla robot taxi. Detailing her experiences in the San Francisco Standard, tech writer Zara Stone described how a supposedly humorous feature known as “emissions testing mode” appeared to glitch out, meaning the sound of continuous farting ricocheted around the cab throughout her journey.
The odd function was designed to operate as a sort of electronic whoopie cushion, allowing users to prank their fellow passengers with flatulence noises coming from their seat.
However, according to Stone, the already gross-sounding feature became almost unbearable after it became locked in a series of constant, unstoppable, ‘squelchy’ farts throughout her journey.
Stone describes herself as a regular Tesla taxi user and says her trips are normally “generally pleasant and clean experiences”, but on this occasion received more than she bargained for.
Stone describes asking the car’s ‘safety driver’ how long the vehicle would continue “making squelchy farting sounds”, to which the employee apparently had no idea, adding that neither the “app” nor the car’s internal volume setting gave any respite from the non-stop flatulence.
She added that the safety driver said he had been “playing with the settings” before her ride, and had somehow “lost control” of the vehicle’s farting ability.
She wrote: “They hadn’t stopped by the end of my ride, and I do not know if the next passenger was forced into flatulence or if the engineer managed to deactivate the feature in time.”
According to Tesla’s own site, the weird emissions testing mode forms part of their cars’ tool box, and allows users to “select your preferred fart style” from five different options.
According to the description, drivers can “use your turn signal or press the left scroll wheel when you’re ready to “release” your prank, or “use he mobile app to conduct remote emissions testing by touching and holding any of the four quick control buttons and selecting the fart button.”
The odd function does not just target those inside the car, as “for those lucky vehicles equipped with a Pedestrian Warning System, you can choose to broadcast externally when your vehicle is parked.”
Tesla fart mode names include: “Not a Fart”, “Short Shorts Ripper”, “Falcon Heavy”, “Ludicrous Fart”, “Neurastink”, “Boring Fart”, and “I’m So Random”.