Another Summon Failure! Do Not Rely on Quick STOP!

[Rlkoffman]

Summon-users, beware! I was putting my new Model X away into the garage tonight utilizing the summon feature. Immediately after entering the threshold of the garage, the front wheels suddenly lurched hard right, smashing my one-month-old 100D into the side of the garage opening. Because I am an experienced beta user, I watch/supervise all twitches and movements like a hawk, ready to abort the process within a moments click of the fob. Well, immediately after I saw the wheels turn hard right, I engaged the fob--NOTHING! The car continued to travel at least another one or two feet, buckling the front fender and creasing the passenger door.

I am heartsick. I traded in my MS for this MX--after three years of ownership of my MS, not a single scratch or dent. Now, my MX's passenger door won't even open!

Of course, I will gripe this tragedy with a BUG REPORT. However, I realize (as should all Tesla owners realize and accept) that when they engage a beta-ready product, they do so assuming all liability. Even if it was the same hiccup that caused the tires to swing hard right that significantly delayed the immediate-stop function of a quick press of the fob, the mishap will be characterized as "my fault"...Caveat Utilitor

Elon, when you release "Smart Summon" in the coming weeks, please make it SAFE SUMMON. I can't even bear to think about my lovely Model X lying wounded in the garage.

 

[CovertADV]

Thanks for sharing your experience as a heads up to other drivers.

I never use summon to park in tight spaces, only to pull out.

 

[Rlkoffman]

Interestingly, I have never had a problem exiting my garage using Summon --Model X threads the needle beautifully. Entering is where the problems are... Once "Flash" comes back from the shop, (even with Smart Summon), I will only use this feature to exit my garage. This is way to painful to risk again.

 

[Solarman004]

@Rlkoffman , very sorry to hear about your mishap.
From your initial description, it sounds like you were not using "continuous press" feature. Is this correct?
I'm wondering if continuous press is a safer mode to use.

 

[Rlkoffman]

Correct, I was not using the continuous press. Continuous Press may have prevented this mishap. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Az_Rael]

Correct, I was not using the continuous press. Continuous Press may have prevented this mishap. Thanks for the suggestion.

I have also heard you can touch a door handle to stop the car as well. Might be tougher on an X tho in a tight spot with the door handle placement as it is.

 

[Rlkoffman]

I position myself in front of the vehicle and walk backward as the car creeps forward; I monitor every move. Whatsmore, I have noticed that there is a slight delay in touching the door handles to initiate a sudden stop. Up until tonight, pressing the fob resulted in an immediate stop.

 

[BerTX]

Correct, I was not using the continuous press. Continuous Press may have prevented this mishap. Thanks for the suggestion.

Continuous press is a phone/app feature. If you turn on continuous press, you can no longer use the fob to control Summon.

My personal feeling is that the phone connection is much more tenuous than the fob. I would never use it. That's all they get to use in Europe -- the fob Summon is deactivated.

 

[aronth5]

Continuous press is a phone/app feature. If you turn on continuous press, you can no longer use the fob to control Summon.

My personal feeling is that the phone connection is much more tenuous than the fob. I would never use it. That's all they get to use in Europe -- the fob Summon is deactivated.

Since I always use the continues press feature to move the car the connection has already been made so I'm comfortable with it.
It would be interesting to know if connectivity is lost does the car automatically stop. My guess is yes but assumptions are always dangerous. Does anyone know for sure?

 

[Tourman]

This is why I don't trust summon at all. Outside of showing off, I don't use it. I'd be devastated if I damaged my car with a beta feature

 

[BerTX]

I position myself in front of the vehicle and walk backward as the car creeps forward; I monitor every move. Whatsmore, I have noticed that there is a slight delay in touching the door handles to initiate a sudden stop. Up until tonight, pressing the fob resulted in an immediate stop.

You present a moving obstruction in front of the ultrasonic sensors, and wonder why they get confused and work erratically?

 

[travwill]

I have found that after entering the door itself of the garage, it discovers that there is say another 6" or so now available on one side more and mine has also tried to turn into that to get farther away from the other car in garage - forgetting above the previous "lip" or door area that it has cleared already. It has done that in the past so I stopped using it after stopping it in the past - don't trust Summon at all as well. I have always been able to stop it with fob also but good to know that the fob relies on communication and software to stop the process and that can of course fail, especially with new versions...

 

[Skipdd]

Since I always use the continues press feature to move the car the connection has already been made so I'm comfortable with it.
It would be interesting to know if connectivity is lost does the car automatically stop. My guess is yes but assumptions are always dangerous. Does anyone know for sure?

Summons Fail - Crashed - Body Shop Repair Estimate
Answer is no. Sadly this owner experienced same issue as the OP, except it was using Summon from phone app.

 

[aronth5]

Summons Fail - Crashed - Body Shop Repair Estimate
Answer is no. Sadly this owner experienced same issue as the OP, except it was using Summon from phone app.

Thanks for the link. Finding out the continuous feature was being used is very disappointing. Hopefully Tesla will address this. I will continue to only use Summon to back out of the garage.

 

[Rlkoffman]

As I walk backward in front of the forward-moving vehicle, I make sure that I remain 5 or 6 feet in front of the car, well beyond the US sensor's range. If MX detected me, once it reached a critical distance, it should have stopped on its own (hopefully).

 

[Peteski]

Okay I was thinking of trying the Summon feature, thinking it might make garage parking a little more convenient. But now I'm not going to bother!

 

[RDoc]

I'd wait a few weeks for the coming update and the car will just follow you like a dog (or maybe a cat?).

 

[aaron0k]

If you're an experienced "Beta Tester" does that mean "normal" people shouldn't be using "beta" features? Or is "Beta" just a way for Tesla to limit their liability when it crashes your car?

 

[brkaus]

If you're an experienced "Beta Tester" does that mean "normal" people shouldn't be using "beta" features? Or is "Beta" just a way for Tesla to limit their liability when it crashes your car?

Your choice. There are a huge number of edge cases in the real world. I'm hoping once it is vision based I can paint white lines on the garage floor and get perfect results every time (but still watch like a hawk).

I have similar fears with the auto parking. Comes too close for my preference.

 

[posity]

Summon into the garage won't work worth a hoot on my 8' wide garage door. It repeatedly refuses to try, so I guess that is a whole lot better than what happened to you. It works so poorly that I decided to quit trying, fearing a scenario like you described. Ouch!

Summon out of the garage works fairly well, although it does seem a bit flaky about opening the garage door consistently. I don't seem to have any problems opening the garage door manually from the touchscreen, but the automatic opening of the garage door at beginning of a summon exit fails about 30% of the time. Summon is definitely Beta quality.