With Halloween just around the corner, it's nice to see automakers embracing the holiday spirit without taking themselves too seriously. Just last week, Tesla began rolling out a Halloween-themed software update that, as the automaker put it on X, "turns your Tesla into a haunted house on wheels." Days later, Rivian brought Ghostbusters to its entire lineup as part of its own Halloween surprise.
Tesla's Halloween Mode comes as part of update 2026.38.3 and brings along a host of goofy ghost-themed add-ons. For example, you can frighten pedestrians by speaking through Tesla's Boombox feature — the car will now repeat your message in a not-so-robotic but suitably scary voice. There's also a new lock sound available, with your Tesla now growling as you lock the car.
You'll find Halloween Mode in the Toybox, with Trick or Treat and Ghost Costume as options. Toggling Ghost Costume drapes a white sheet over your car's avatar (which now floats), with holes cut out for the headlights and taillights. Before that appears on the screen, however, there's a small intro sequence with a "Happy Halloween" script and a few tasty animations to set the stage.
Trick or Treat has your Tesla play spooky sounds via the exterior speaker, accompanied by flickering interior and exterior lights, whenever someone approaches when it's parked. It's worth noting that Trick or Treat disables Tesla's Sentry Mode, security alarm, and walk-away lock, which could be a concern if you previously ran into trouble with your neighborhood kids and their Halloween shenanigans.
But wait, there's more
Four Halloween wraps are also available as part of the update, and they're about as goofy and gimmicky as you'd expect. If you fancy Polaroid-style prints with "Happy Halloween" and "Trick or Treat" as captions, you might enjoy the Halloween Photobooth feature. You can also schedule a Fright Show now. As you can see in this YouTube video from Sergiu Mogan, it's little more than a Model 3 flashing its lights and blinkers and opening and closing its trunk in time with spooky music.
Perhaps the most interesting bit is the attention to detail when you start driving your Halloween-themed Tesla. On the touchscreen, you'll notice that cars around you glow, pedestrians walk like zombies, skeletons pedal bicycles, traffic cones alternate between green and orange, and traffic lights look like they have pumpkins stacked on top of each other. Not only that, but an owl's hoot now plays over the usual turn signal "click" sound — a clever little detail, to be fair.
Halloween Mode is available on the Model S, 3, X, and Y, as well as the Cybertruck, but with an important caveat: only AMD-powered models receive the Halloween-special software treats. Although Intel-equipped Model S, 3, X, and Y received software version 2026.38.3, the update appears to omit Halloween Mode entirely in these cars, according to Not a Tesla App. (Tesla began its switch from Intel Atom to AMD Ryzen hardware in 2021.) But hey, if you're not big on gimmicks, you're not missing much anyway.