MASTER THREAD: all Smart Summon-related posts go here

[Garlan Garner]

I don't use it.

But I also don't want to be having to deal with people who are using it while I'm trying to park or find a parking space. And I don't want my car to be hit by a driverless Tesla owned by someone who is "testing" this toy.

So, no, that's not how simple it is.

Yes it is that simple. ( great that you don't use it ).

Even simpler - stop worrying about what other people do.

6,490,537 cars in LA
1,109,042 trucks in LA
162,874 motorcycles in LA

There is a tremendously higher chance of a PERSON running into your car than someone with Summon.

Come on people.....we are reaching here.

 

[classicjoy]

A few serious problems being discussed in this forum as well: V10 Impressions from those who have installed the update

 

[Garlan Garner]

A few serious problems being discussed in this forum as well: V10 Impressions from those who have installed the update

Just like the guy that the thread above is pointing to.

You mean to tell me that the instructions of summon says that you should always watch your car when executing summon.....

And this guy watched his car damage his car and garage.....

And it's Tesla's fault?

We don't even know if that's a summon accident. All kinds of human errors are going to be blamed on summon.

Please.


BTW....that thread is NOT about problems. Its about impressions of V10 both good and bad.
V10 Impressions from those who have installed the update

 

[wdolson]

I wonder if the Smart Summon problem is worse than just what's on YouTube and the media. I've been on the road the last couple of days and have been stopping at a number of superchargers. I noted yesterday that I've seen several Teslas with minor body damage consistent with a slow speed accident. More than I've seen before.

I was in Sacramento yesterday and there were 2 or 3 at the same supercharger. I overheard one guy talking on the phone and he sounded like a Tesla employee (I forget exactly what he said, but he was talking about some kind of maintenance task with charging equipment and it sounded more like it was his job than something personal, I didn't pay close attention because I try to be polite). He was standing near one of the cars with damage. Maybe a company car mishap?

 

[jdcollins5]

There are always those that have to push the limits well beyond Tesla’s warnings. To me the bad press is much worse than the info gained.

I tried Smart Summon in a fairly empty parking lot the first time. It got “lost” the first time and I had to get closer to the car to get it to complete. The second time it passed me by about 10 feet before it stopped.

I believe I will wait for some improvement updates before trying it in prime time in a busy parking lot.

 

[LM-5]

Elon says "Smart Park": Elon: Smart Parking maybe in 2 months, EAP buyers will get it : teslamotors

 

[Garlan Garner]

Asked about reports of crashes, NHTSA said it “is aware of reports related to Tesla’s Summon feature. We are in ongoing contact with the company and we continue to gather information. Safety is NHTSA’s top priority and the agency will not hesitate to act if it finds evidence of a safety-related defect.”

Tesla says users of Smart Summon should have a clear line of sight and check the surroundings. It said the vehicle “will maneuver around or stop for objects and notify you when detected.”

Users can stop the car from driving by releasing the app’s button, it says, adding, “You are still responsible for your car and  must monitor it and its surroundings at all times and be within your line of sight because it may not detect all obstacles. Be especially careful around quick moving people, bicycles and cars.”

 

[Big Dog]

search for the numbers online:

1 in 5 (20%) of all accidents occur in parking lots
14% of all claim damage occurs from parking lot accidents
60k folks injured, 500 serious/killed

Distractions

In an NSC public opinion poll, 66% of drivers nationwide said they would make phone calls while driving through parking lots. Respondents also said they would:

• Program GPS systems (63%)
• Text (56%)
• Use social media (52%)
• Send or receive emails (50%)
• Take photos or watch videos (49%)

NSC found teens (59%) were more likely to engage in personal grooming than adults (53%) while driving in parking lots, but less likely to be on the phone (60% vs. 66%).

NHTSA will be collecting data for a long time to get such numbers (on a per capita basis) for Teslas....

fwiw: cars in the parking lot driving lane have the right of way. Cars backing out of parking slots and colliding with cars in the driving lanes are almost always at fault. So, the the parking lot crashes heard about so far are the responsibility of the crasher, not the Tesla.

 

[Garlan Garner]

This is what I did a long time ago.

I found a gigantic empty parking lot and I tried Summon. I didn't initially try it in a small confined space.

I noticed its initial short-commings and kept doing it over and over and over and I learned what it would and wouldn't do. Then I stopped using it in locations where I knew it would be challenged.

I trusted that it would improve over time - and it has.

It will continue to improve over time as that has been the "Tesla way" with All of their products. Knowing this...I will continue to learn about it in the safest environments I know until I know I can use it in challenging environments.

Just like FSD. For me - it has been vastly improved over its initial beta release and the current beta version on-ramp to off-ramp is phenomenal. Will I use it on local roads here in Chicago. nope...not yet....even though its called Full Self Driving.
Do I feel as I should sue Tesla or rant and rave because I don't believe the current beta version is how I define Full Self Driving? No.

First thing I did with V10 SS is to go out that large empty parking lot and try it again....over and over and over. Why? Because my Model 3 is expensive and I didn't want to damage it. There are parts of SS that are better than previous versions and parts that are surprisingly worse.

Neither Tesla, nor my kids, nor family members, nor neighbors could ever convince me to test a new product in an environment that could damage what I worked so hard to get. My wife might be able to convince me to do that....because I trust her....but it would be a difficult sell for even her.

We need to be smarter about our investments and such than smart summon is about navigation.

 

[victorlukito]

Using advanced summon in the gym parking lot kinda defeats the point of going to the gym, doesn’t it?

Funny how I mentioned my interesting experiences, but I forgot to mention the interesting part. As soon as I got into my car in the middle of the parking lot street, another M3 came out all by itself and straight to a couple carrying their baby in a carrier at the front of the gym 2 aisles away. Now that's a really good use of Enhanced Summon (ES). That's also the first time I am seeing someone else use the feature. I do foresee minor accidents which I cringe even at the thought of it because I worry that Tesla may remove the feature. I love it, and I hope those accidents become data points for Tesla to improve ES. Not the other way around

 

[NOLADriver]

Ok here is a new flip to "drunk summon".....so I tried it earlier in an empty parking lot that went to a single lane road. Long story short, it went off the road and into the grass, nothing else around it so it wasnt unsafe, it just didnt comprehend the small one lane road. I let it go for a few feet to see if it would correct and it didnt. So I let go of the button....it didnt fuking stop !....I was like OMG and ran over to it still driving forward. Like a total imbecile I ran in front of it and it stopped (crazy pedestrian sensor) and jumped in it. I realized that when I let go of the button my iPhone "20% battery" notification popped up on top of it. Either one of two things happened, the smart summon didnt stop because of some reason unknown or the "iPhone low battery" icon took precedent over the release of the button and the app didnt know I let go of it. I realize this is a nightmare to try and replicate, but I watched it happen in front of me and was off the button and running to the car still traveling. Hows that for weird.

edit: (It was set for "go to target")

 

[BCNY]

Prepare for your insurance premiums to skyrocket anytime soon. Either that or maybe even a "recall" removing smart summon.


Videos showing Tesla's Smart Summon feature doing bizarre things have gotten the NHTSA's attention

 

[boiler81]

Ok here is a new flip to "drunk summon".....so I tried it earlier in an empty parking lot that went to a single lane road. Long story short, it went off the road and into the grass, nothing else around it so it wasnt unsafe, it just didnt comprehend the small one lane road. I let it go for a few feet to see if it would correct and it didnt. So I let go of the button....it didnt fuking stop !....I was like OMG and ran over to it still driving forward. Like a total imbecile I ran in front of it and it stopped (crazy pedestrian sensor) and jumped in it. I realized that when I let go of the button my iPhone "20% battery" notification popped up on top of it. Either one of two things happened, the smart summon didnt stop because of some reason unknown or the "iPhone low battery" icon took precedent over the release of the button and the app didnt know I let go of it. I realize this is a nightmare to try and replicate, but I watched it happen in front of me and was off the button and running to the car still traveling. Hows that for weird.

edit: (It was set for "go to target")

Has anybody confirm if touching the door handle cancels the SS and stops the car, as the original summons does?

 

[DopeGhoti]

I realized that when I let go of the button my iPhone "20% battery" notification popped up on top of it. Either one of two things happened, the smart summon didnt stop because of some reason unknown or the "iPhone low battery" icon took precedent over the release of the button and the app didnt know I let go of it. I realize this is a nightmare to try and replicate, but I watched it happen in front of me and was off the button and running to the car still traveling. Hows that for weird.

Tech guy here. What probably happened is as you suspect. The battery notification from the phone's OS is what we call a "modal" dialog- nothing can supercede it until you acknowledge it. What this means is that while it is on the screen, when you lift your thumb from what you thought was the Summon button, the "TouchUp" event went to the battery notification and not to the Tesla application, so it never saw that you'd let go of the button.

Jumping in front of the car was, interestingly, probably exactly the right decision, because "yo there's a pedestrian, stahp!" overrides "drunkenly swerve into the reeds" on the car's list of Smart Summon priorities.

I do know that "Dumb Summon" will cancel if you interact with the door handles; I have not tested this yet with Smart.

 

[whatthe2]

Ok here is a new flip to "drunk summon".....so I tried it earlier in an empty parking lot that went to a single lane road. Long story short, it went off the road and into the grass, nothing else around it so it wasnt unsafe, it just didnt comprehend the small one lane road. I let it go for a few feet to see if it would correct and it didnt. So I let go of the button....it didnt fuking stop !....I was like OMG and ran over to it still driving forward. Like a total imbecile I ran in front of it and it stopped (crazy pedestrian sensor) and jumped in it. I realized that when I let go of the button my iPhone "20% battery" notification popped up on top of it. Either one of two things happened, the smart summon didnt stop because of some reason unknown or the "iPhone low battery" icon took precedent over the release of the button and the app didnt know I let go of it. I realize this is a nightmare to try and replicate, but I watched it happen in front of me and was off the button and running to the car still traveling. Hows that for weird.

edit: (It was set for "go to target")

Can you post DashCam? Not doubting at all, just curious to see it in action. Especially it stopping when you were in front of it.

 

[NOLADriver]

@DopeGhoti

That seems the most logical reason. And I dont know if an app update could fix it. The iPhone is finicky about what it allows to happen and nothing seems to override the low battery prompt.

 

[Dan203]

I doubt there are any more accidents with Smart Summon then there are with normal people driving in parking lots. People back into other cars, clip the sides, clip the garage, etc... all the time driving themselves. From what I've seen this is no more likely to get into an accident then a human driver.

Now it does do really stupid things that would make it embarrassing to use, and could potentially piss off other drivers, but it seems to error on the side of caution most times avoiding accidents.

 

[Daniel in SD]

It's not that simple and I believe you know it.

Its not about only about helping people to not do anything.

You should talk to the NHTSA then. Tell us what they are looking at. Are they reading information from threads like this? Absolutely they are. Don't try to reduce the scope of this thread about how not to use it.

Please.

Trashing Tesla as this thread has done is NOT mature. Its childish. And I know you can find many posts that are doing that in this thread.

As I stated over and over and over. If you don't like it..then don't use it. That's how simple it is.

I think the existence of this thread will reduce the number Smart Summon incidents and who doesn't like fail videos?
What's going to get Smart Summon banned by the NHTSA is people using it incorrectly. I look at it just like Autopilot, if you publicize what can go wrong if used incorrectly it encourages people the use it correctly and keeps it legal for everyone.
Also, it's just funny watching cars drive around drunk by themselves. If Tesla didn't want people laughing they shouldn't have released such a ridiculous feature.

 

[JulienW]

Prepare for your insurance premiums to skyrocket anytime soon. Either that or maybe even a "recall" removing smart summon....

550,000 Summons as of a couple of days ago. Only a few videos of accidents so it looks statistically insignificantly at this point. Since insurance premiums are data driving what do you know that no one else seems to know?

 

[Daniel in SD]

Does Tesla have a tech email that you can report problems to ?

I couldn't find anything but this is a serious safety defect. Having the car require a signal from the phone in order to stop is a horrible design. The default state should be stopped and the car should require a constant heartbeat from the phone in order to continue. If it's not possible to do this in iOS then they should remove it from the app (though I suspect it is possible, I'm sure there are some iOS developers around here). If you can't get in contact with Tesla then you should report it to the NHTSA (File a Vehicle Safety Complaint | Safercar.gov | NHTSA).