Elon Musk announced over Twitter that his advanced auto summon update will turn your Tesla car into an actual RC car.
Remember in the James Bond movie “Tomorrow Never Dies” when James Bond drives his 7-series from the back seat of his Bond car to avoid getting hit by bullets? According to Elon Musk and his latest Twitter updates he dropped earlier today (Nov. 1, 2018) that future is now. Elon Musk will roll out its latest over-the-air update in six weeks, just in time for Christmas. Dubbed “Advanced Summon” this OTA turns your smart phone into an RC controller of sorts, allowing you to move your Tesla around, including parking it on its own, all from the comfort of your phone. Check out his tweets below.
Tesla advanced Summon ready in ~6 weeks! Just an over-the-air software upgrade, so will work on all cars made in past 2 years (Autopilot hardware V2+).
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2018
Car will drive to your phone location & follow you like a pet if you hold down summon button on Tesla app
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2018
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
Summons and Autopark are not new features for the Tesla lineup of cars, this feature was first introduced more than two years ago thanks to software update 7.1. Summon allows Tesla owners to get into and out of impossibly tight spots where opening your door is impossible. If you happen to find a parking spot only big enough for your car, you have an advantage over everyone else in normal cars.
Currently, that feature only allowed your car to drive itself in a straight line, amazing on its own but nothing particularly mind-blowing. BMW has a similar technology but it’s not as advanced as Tesla’s.
Elon Musk didn’t go into specifics on how the system would work but presumably Tesla’s suite of cameras surrounding the vehicle will be monitoring its surroundings at all times with multiple safety fallbacks that will prevent you from driving your $50,000 RC car into a storefront, or, around the time this update comes out, into your own garage to impress your family members.
Imagine a future with full autonomy, proven with literally billions of safe autonomous driving miles and this auto summons future evolved into its final form, the ability to call your car to your location from (insert a number) of miles away.
