Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk has said that in a few years time, the Summon feature that allows Tesla electric cars to drive a short distance to its driver, will work from as far as the other side of a continent.
That’s thousands of kilometres, a far sight further than what is currently possible, or even desirable, and extends the meaning of “summon” to far beyond what it is now commonly used for – to allow your electric Tesla car open and leave your garage automatically or meet you in a large parking lot saving you the hassle of finding it.
The founder and CEO made the comment in response to a post by a Tesla car owner on social media site Twitter, thanking Tesla for saving him fro stepping through a puddle to get in his car.
Thanks @Tesla, for keeping my blue suede shoes dry! ☔️ #summon #model3 #tesla pic.twitter.com/IsZuR0kd6M
— Rodney Hansen (@RodneyHansen) November 26, 2018
Musk replied that in a few years, Tesla cars would do much better than that.
“You can summon your Tesla from your phone. Only short distances today, but in a few years summon will work from across the continent,” he said.
You can summon your Tesla from your phone. Only short distances today, but in a few years summon will work from across the continent. https://t.co/Xcj67ajZ8H
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 29, 2018
Of course that kind of ability would include being able to locate and drive to a destination or fast charger along the way – somewhat a challenge currently in Australia if you say, needed to summon your car from Perth and you were on the east coast.
Musk had previously announced an advanced Summon over-the-air software upgrade, which is part of Tesla’s autonomous Autopilot feature, would soon be available in late October, adding the ability for the car to follow the driver “like a pet”, and “remotely like a big RC car if in line of sight”.
Also, you’ll be able to drive it from your phone remotely like a big RC car if in line of sight
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2018
We love this idea, but one bright twit made a comment that we love even more: “Imagine the day when you can order your Tesla and it will just drive itself to your house from the factory.”
— HyruleSmasher (@SmasherHyrule) November 29, 2018
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.