Tesla has included plenty of pop-culture references in its vehicles, but one of its more elaborate Easter eggs actually lived entirely in the mobile app. The Back to the Future Easter egg transformed several parts of Tesla’s old app into references to the 1985 movie. The feature is no longer available after Tesla revamped its app in 2021.
How the Back to the Future Easter Egg Worked
Activating the Easter egg wasn’t easy and required patience, as the vehicle had to have a range of exactly 121 miles or 121 km (not 121 miles converted to km).
Once a vehicle was at 121 miles of range, owners could tap the battery icon in the Tesla app to trigger it. You would be prompted with a dialog box that read “Time Circuits On,” and stated, “Ensure plutonium fuel is inserted into reactor chamber and press ‘Yes’ to continue.”
Tapping Yes would then enable the Easter egg.
Features and References
Everything about the Easter egg happened on the phone, and nothing changed in the vehicle itself. However, Tesla packed the feature with little references to the 1985 hit movie. The vehicle’s name became OUTATIME, matching the DeLorean’s license plate, while 121 miles of range became 1.21 GW, referring to the power needed for time travel in the movie.
“Charging scheduled” became “Time Circuits On,” the Charging section became the “Fuel Chamber,” and it displayed a current output of 300R. The app also changed the vehicle’s location to 1600 S Azusa Ave in Rowland Heights, a filming location, and displayed a service appointment for November 5, 1955, the date Marty McFly travels to in the first movie.
Why the Easter Egg Disappeared
Tesla released Tesla app version 4.0 in August 2021, one of the app’s largest redesigns. The previous flat vehicle artwork was replaced by fully rendered 3D vehicle models with animated transitions throughout the app.
The Back to the Future Easter egg did not make the transition to the new design and has remained unavailable since.
While the Easter egg was cool, it always displayed a Model X with the falcon-wing doors open, so it wasn’t specific to your vehicle. The fact that the Easter egg didn’t change anything inside the vehicle was also slightly disappointing.
Those likely contributed to the disappearance of one of Tesla’s earliest Easter eggs.
Could Tesla Bring It Back?
There is currently no indication that Tesla plans to restore the Easter egg. However, nothing is preventing Tesla from recreating the Easter egg. If it ever comes back, we’d probably get a more immersive experience with a 3D-modeled DeLorean and a matching 3D model inside the vehicle.'
It would certainly be a cool addition, much like the Tron Mode available in the vehicle today. In 2024, Rivian added a temporary ‘Back to the Future’ mode in its Halloween update.
Tesla App Easter Eggs
The Tesla app still holds several Easter eggs. In July 2026, Rainbow Road began appearing in the Tesla app when the vehicle’s Rainbow Road setting is enabled, turning the app’s FSD path from blue into a moving rainbow.
Tesla recently added another Easter egg. On the app’s FSD Stats page, rapidly tap the percentage graph five times to change the graph from blue to a rainbow effect on both iOS and Android.
