How to drive your Tesla down a Mario Kart-themed Rainbow Road in cute new Easter egg

Electric carmaker Tesla's latest update for the Model S features a hidden secret that lets you watch your Tesla drive on a Mario Kart-themed Rainbow Road in real time on the infotainment console.

Dubbed the "psychedelic cowbell road", the latest Easter egg showed up in Tesla's new Autopilot update v7.1 released this week for its Model S. Tesla CEO Elon Musk tipped Tesla drivers off to the nostalgic treat for Mario Kart 64 fans via Twitter on 11 April.

Musk's tweet also suggests that there are more surprises in store from the EV automaker that will be unveiled soon. Activating the Easter egg requires a cheat code of sorts, in keeping with the video game theme. Simply engage the autopilot and pull on the cruise control stalk four times "in quick succession" to unlock the feature.

The road on the dashboard display gets a psychedelic makeover and transforms from a boring grey to a Rainbow Road. It also plays a clip from Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper" from Saturday Night Live over the stereo, premising the "more cowbell" mention from Musk.

Previous Easter eggs from Tesla included the ability to transform your Model S into the James Bond's famous submersible Lotus Esprit submarine from "The Spy Who Loved Me" on the dashboard, a Ludicrous Speed referencing the film Spaceballs and unlocking the meaning of life - 42.

The Easter egg reveal comes on the same day that Tesla announced a safety recall for 2,700 Model X sport-utility vehicles to repair their improperly made third-row seats, which could fold forward during a collision. The company said it found the problem during its internal testing before beginning the delivery of vehicles to Europe. It also added that it received no reports of seat failures or any accidents caused due to the seat's latch.

Its next car, the Model 3, has already received more than 325,000 pre-orders since it was revealed on 31 March and could generate $14bn (£10bn) in future revenue, if all pre-orders translate into complete sales. Deliveries for the five-seat sedan are expected to begin late 2017.

Electric carmaker Tesla's latest update for the Model S features a hidden secret that lets you watch your Tesla drive on a Mario Kart-themed Rainbow Road in real time on the infotainment console.

Dubbed the "psychedelic cowbell road", the latest Easter egg showed up in Tesla'snew Autopilot update v7.1released this week for its Model S. Tesla CEO Elon Musk tipped Tesla drivers off to the nostalgic treat for Mario Kart 64 fans via Twitter on 11 April.