Engine sound in a Tesla
EV·ENGINE gives a Tesla the sound of a combustion engine, using the car's own browser and its own GPS. Open ev-engine.com on the centre screen, allow location, and press ignition. Nothing installs and nothing plugs in. It works on the Model 3, Y, S and X.
Starting it
- Park. Tesla limits what the touchscreen will do once you are moving, and you want this set up at a standstill anyway.
- Open the browser from the app launcher on the touchscreen.
- Type
ev-engine.cominto the address bar. - Allow location when the browser asks. Speed is the only input the simulator has, and GPS is where it comes from. Refuse, and there is nothing to drive the revs.
- Pick a machine from the list, then press IGNITION.
- Turn the volume up. The page plays through the media channel, so the car's own volume control governs it.
Which Teslas
| Model | Centre screen | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Model 3 | 15-inch landscape | The layout the dashboard was designed against. |
| Model Y | 15-inch landscape | Same screen as the Model 3. |
| Model S, 2021 on | 17-inch landscape | More width, so the instrument panel spreads out. |
| Model X, 2021 on | 17-inch landscape | As the Model S. |
| Model S and X, before 2021 | 17-inch portrait | The dashboard reflows to a single column. |
What to expect
Revs rise as you accelerate, the gearbox changes up and down against that machine’s shift point, and the exhaust bangs when you lift off. Pick something with a low redline, like the diesel, and it will be shifting constantly at town speeds. Pick the V12 and it will pull to 8,000 rpm in second.
GPS reports a fix about once a second. The speed on the page therefore lags the speedometer in the dash, and the revs lag with it, so under hard acceleration the note arrives a moment behind the push.
It is an audio toy, not a driving aid. Do not read your speed from it, and do not operate the screen while the car is moving.
If you hear nothing
- Check the car volume, and check that media is not muted.
- Check that you allowed location. With no fix the engine sits at idle and stays there.
- Reload the page. Browsers suspend audio for a hidden tab, and returning from a long sleep is the most common way to end up silent.
- Open Signal Watcher in the same browser. It reports whether Geolocation, Web Audio and AudioWorklet are available, and what GPS update rate you are getting.
EV·ENGINE is made by Disrex and has no affiliation with Tesla, Inc. Tesla is a trademark of its owner, used here to say which cars this page is about.