Tesla Vehicle Owner Highlights Potential Pedestrian Warning Speakers On Model S, X

Electric vehicles are much quieter than gas-powered cars, and this can present a hazard for pedestrians. Due to this, legislation has been in the works for years that would require electric vehicles to emit a sound to alert pedestrians of its presence, called a PWS or Pedestrian Warning System.

Last year, Tesla Inc TSLA started enabling PWS in the Model 3. By September, 100% of manufactured electric vehicles will need to have a functioning PWS in place. Now it appears Tesla has started to enable this on at least one Tesla owner's Model X remotely, according to an owner's post in the Tesla Motors Club forum.

The owner notes the vehicle is an older build, but the pedestrian noises surprised them when they started the car in the morning. The provided video has the clearly distinct sound of Tesla's forward and backward pedestrian warning noises.

Benzinga's Take: It looks like Tesla is getting ready for cars to have an enabled PWS. Of course, cars built before the date of the legislation taking effect are exempt, but people have been noticing the vehicles having speaker grills and speakers added as production rolls out. While the usefulness of this has been debated, especially by EV owners, it's something all electric cars will have moving forward.

Photo courtesy of Tesla.