MASTER THREAD: all Smart Summon-related posts go here

[notAnExpert]

Just wondering! Thanks for your vote.

 

[ngogas]

0. Just too impatient to wait. Rather just walk to it. It’s a novelty.

 

[John W. Ratcliff]

I agree. It has no practical use that I can see except, perhaps, picking you up in the pouring rain, which has yet to happen to me. Using it in an environment where there is *any* other traffic is far too risky IMO. It doesn't behave like a human being so it just confuses the hell out of anyone else who has to encounter it's semi-random walk. It's also too slow to be worth the trouble.

 

[Trips]

I use it every day leaving work when the parking lot is not busy. Like Autopilot it is best to learn the limits in a safe environment.

 

[saltsman]

Zero because it's mostly a gimmick that is too both slow and too risky (echoing ngogas and John). Now if it were pouring rain and I was standing under a portico, I might actually use it in that type of situation.

 

[hungryjonjon]

Zero. will try someday farther in the future.

 

[angelman]

tried it the other day at work and it was perfect. Tried it in the grocery store parking lot and it tried to drive through a car and a tree.. not so good.

 

[CharleyBC]

After some 50/50 results in an abandoned parking lot when it first came out, I've only tried it once, and it refused (correctly) because it was a weird parking situation where it would have had to back out from a private spot onto a public street. Thwarted!

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

Just to inject a caution.
If you don't use Summon or Smart Summon, disable Summon Standby mode (which is on by default).
That would have avoided my problem on Friday when I found the battery down to 18% after being parked for a week.

 

[rhaekar]

0. Usually when I'm out I have my son with me and I don't want to summon the car and have it in the way while I put him in his car seat.

I mainly use it at work when we are moving our cars to and from the charging spots we share.

 

[Tron 3]

Always as a demo in an all but empty parking lot.

 

[Cirrus MS100D]

Used it legitimately last week when picking up lunch. The deli has a tiny parking lot that can MAYBE fit 5 cars on a good day and the S is a land yacht that I feel nervous about anyway.

There is a large parking lot next to the deli, but it’s separated by a fence, so if you park there, you have to walk all the way down the lot to the edge of the fence, cross over, then all the way back up the deli driveway to their parking lot and front door.

I was basically able to park near the deli, yet because of the fence, it would’ve required about 500’ of walking, ergo, Smart Summon.

I directed the car to meet me at the edge of the fence (essentially half way) with my lunch, got in, and drove away.

Parlor trick? Yeah.
Cool? Yeah.

 

[drtimhill]

I agree. It has no practical use that I can see except, perhaps, picking you up in the pouring rain, which has yet to happen to me. Using it in an environment where there is *any* other traffic is far too risky IMO. It doesn't behave like a human being so it just confuses the hell out of anyone else who has to encounter it's semi-random walk. It's also too slow to be worth the trouble.

You CLEARLY dont live in Seattle! It's already saved me from getting soaked twice.

 

[Big Dog]

you missed another choice: Zero, (I have it, but have never used it and don't plan to -- faster to walk)

 

[Bloomj]

It cannot be restated enough that "Come to Me" uses your phone GPS to locate where precisely "Me" is, while "Go to target" uses the car's GPS. If your phone is a potato or you're waiting inside a Faraday cage or next to an operating Tesla coil, you might get better results from "Go to target".

FWIW - I used go to target. I’ve never actually seen the come to me button on my app.

 

[paulvinh]

Anyone with the new update tested summon? I haven’t used it much so I’m wondering if it really got better?

 

[Scott Hovercar]

It cannot be restated enough that "Come to Me" uses your phone GPS to locate where precisely "Me" is, while "Go to target" uses the car's GPS. If your phone is a potato or you're waiting inside a Faraday cage or next to an operating Tesla coil, you might get better results from "Go to target".

Thanks, DopeGhoti! This will be helpful next time I use Smart Summons, which is almost every day.

 

[Scott Hovercar]

I live in Florida, so except for rain the weather doesn't justify Smart Summons use if you are fully ambulatory. But I suspect that for those who live far enough North and the bite of freezing weather is nasty enough, we will see a lot more usage. I get best results by testing for the best parking spot wherever I frequently go. That way I can rely on come-to-me because I have already discovered a path my Tesla "understands". By the way, I have tested Smart Summons in near-empty parking lots (for safety) and the car always stops before encountering any sort of collision (islands, curbs, trees, me, etc.). Actually, the extreme caution of the Smart Summons algorithms makes it hard to use in crowded situations because the car will just stop in its tracks and interfere with traffic - can be embarrassing, but not dangerous! I use Smart Summons frequently not because I need it, but because it is still fascinating to watch! Anyone agree?

 

[Tron 3]

Actually, the extreme caution of the Smart Summons algorithms makes it hard to use in crowded situations because the car will just stop in its tracks and interfere with traffic

Yes, Elon has said that parking lots are hard. The car gets too paranoid to move with so much random action from any direction.

 

[Wodensthrall]

A bug, or a feature?

When I use Smart Summon, I notice that the Sentry Mode report of close encounters has been cleared from the screen before I am able to see it. Does anyone know if Tesla has any plans to address this? Like, maybe the notification could remain up until the car is put in gear using the stalk?