Did you know your Tesla has a submarine mode?

Owners of new Tesla Model S cars may not know it, but they could see their car turned into a submarine with just a few commands on the car's controls.

But of course, the transformation is limited to the car's display showing the vehicle's status, Jalopnik.com reported.


^{A screenshot from an image from jalopnik.com}

"We've confirmed with Tesla that it's real and part of a software update (v5.9) that was pushed to the Model S nearly a year ago, and it took until now for someone to find it. Unfortunately, Tesla won't tell us how to do it or how it impacts range," it said.

It said that while the software update has been around for a year, an Instagram user posted this only on Thursday.

The submarine is a reference to the Lotus Esprit – a car that transforms into a submarine – used in the James Bond 007 film "The Spy Who Loved Me."

Jalopnik noted Tesla chief Elon Musk had bought that Lotus vehicle for $866,000 and plans to turn into a functional submersible.

A separate article on The Verge said the driver can trigger the (virtual) transformation by holding the "T" logo, keying in "007" into the login and then adjusting the suspension to a depth of "20,000 leagues under the sea."

"Of course, the setting won’t do anything but evoke gasps of delight from owners and passengers, alike. But really, isn’t that worth it?" it said. — Joel Locsin/LBG, GMA News