As of software update 2022.28.2, Tesla electric vehicles (EVs) with a Pedestrian Warning System (PWS) installed can detect whether the associated speaker is disconnected and notify the user if it is (via Reddit).
Many Tesla owners find the PWS annoying (as do many of the people who hear it in action), so disconnecting its speaker isn’t all that uncommon. If you have your Tesla’s PWS speaker disconnected and update to software version 2022.28.2, you’ll get an alert pop-up about it when you get into your car.
“I updated the car yesterday whilst at the office. When I got in, I saw this yellow triangle alert popup stating the speaker needs service. You can swipe it to the right and it just reduces to the triangle. [It’s] persistent and will not go away. I have my PWS disconnected so the alert is correct, but now the car will nag you about it,” said u/Stromberg-Carlson.
While the warning can be dismissed by simply swiping it to the right, it doesn’t go away entirely. Instead, it reduces to an alert triangle and will continue to stay there unless you reconnect the PWS speaker.
Tesla explains in its owner’s manuals that the PWS is designed to “emit sound when driving below approximately 24 km/h (15 mph) or while driving in reverse” to help alert pedestrians of the oncoming vehicle.
The company was required by U.S. regulators to start including a PWS in every single one of its EVs by September 2020 because of how quiet its cars can be. Tesla’s PWS speaker also enables the ‘megaphone’ feature available in your Tesla’s Toybox.
For those who wish to not see a persistent alert triangle on their Tesla’s console but also don’t want to re-enable their PWS speaker, some Reddit users speculated that adding a resistor of similar resistance to the speaker could trick the detection system into believing it had been connected.
However, a working PWS is a regulatory requirement for EVs in many jurisdictions. Disabling it is therefore not recommended. Since electric vehicles do not make noise when backing up, the speaker acts as a warning system for pedestrians, particularly those with vision impairment.
