Summon Capability

[69bluesman]

Simple question for current Tesla owners.

Does the summon feature have the ability to navigate itself out of a long drive way with a slight curve? Or does it just go straight? I have this scenario at home and it's tight to boot. Will the Tesla summon out with ease? Or fail?

 

[BestRadar]

Simple question for current Tesla owners.

Does the summon feature have the ability to navigate itself out of a long drive way with a slight curve? Or does it just go straight? I have this scenario at home and it's tight to boot. Will the Tesla summon out with ease? Or fail?

No, Summon only goes a maximum of 30ft or so.

 

[lunitiks]

Current iteration of Summon is merely a party trick

 

[alcibiades]

As far as I can tell, the only time summon curves is when it steers into a wall.

 

[davinci2017]

No curves, only straight line with no elevation changes

 

[69bluesman]

They should fix that! With all the cameras, the car should be able to navigate and crawl out of a somewhat simple driveway route.

 

[silentsnow31802]

Mine has steered away from obstacles such as another car in my driveway and my garbage cans. I would imaging it could follow curve as long as the ultrasonic sensors could see something as a guide and it was a shallow bend.

 

[Aieukl378]

Does the summon feature have the ability to navigate itself out of a long drive way with a slight curve? Or does it just go straight? I have this scenario at home and it's tight to boot. Will the Tesla summon out with ease? Or fail?[/QUOTE]

For now it basically follows a straight line though it will steer around objects so if your driveway has a physical border, I suppose it's possible. FYI if you experiment doing this make sure you adjust settings to give yourself a good buffer and use key fob which allows you to stop car quickly. It will be interesting to if it works!

 

[ecarfan]

Current iteration of Summon is merely a party trick

Currently, Summon can get your car out of tight spaces where you can't open the door safely to get inside, for example if you are parked and someone parks excessively close to your door. And some people use it to get their car into and out of their garage without them in it because they have a small garage space.

Not a "party trick" in my opinion, but obviously a long way from Tesla's stated goal of, on private property, you being able to "summon" the car from your garage to your front door, for example.

One step at a time...

 

[ecarfan]

And here is an example of how someone uses Summon and is happy it is available:

I originally thought summon was cool but not something I would use. But then....I remembered that in our 2 car garage I struggle a little bit with my bum knee getting it making sure my door does not hit my wife's car. Summon to the rescue. Pull the car out with summon, open the door full wide, easy enter without twisting my knee wrong way. Funny how something that looked like I would not use it comes in very handy daily.

 

[kort677]

Current iteration of Summon is merely a party trick

for some it is more than a trick. many people who have tight parking spaces use it to access their cars

 

[69bluesman]

My driveway is tight with a 6' fence and wall one side, and a small planter curb on the other with the actual house only a few feet from that. The car would literally be only about 12" away from the fence side.

 

[TacC]

Mine has steered away from obstacles such as another car in my driveway and my garbage cans. I would imaging it could follow curve as long as the ultrasonic sensors could see something as a guide and it was a shallow bend.

This is the answer to OP's question. Put up some posts or a fence/wall and your car will make the curve. Max distance is 40 ft.

Currently, Summon can get your car out of tight spaces where you can't open the door safely to get inside, for example if you are parked and someone parks excessively close to your door. And some people use it to get their car into and out of their garage without them in it because they have a small garage space.

Not a "party trick" in my opinion, but obviously a long way from Tesla's stated goal of, on private property, you being able to "summon" the car from your garage to your front door, for example.

One step at a time...

Agreed. It doesn't replace your valet/chauffeur. It is often quite helpful, though. We have a small garage and I like to leave my wife room to get in and out easily. I park right up against the wall and summon in/out.

 

[democappy]

Interesting to me how vigorously some people defend summon. There are certainly use cases and some owners who do get great utility out of it, but I have to imagine <5% of owners ever use summon in a meaningful way. The only use I have found so far is that my 3 year old thinks it is cool that he can back up the car using my phone. So I certainly fall into the chunk of owners where I have only found use of it as a party trick.

Summon can't even back out of my straight driveway successfully. It will steer away from perceived obstacles directly towards actual obstacles. I could probably tweak the settings to make it work better, but even if it worked perfectly I probably wouldn't find any reason to use it. I think for new owners, the best advice we can give is to expect it to have very limited usefulness and then be pleasantly surprised when it will work for you. If you absolutely need summon for your parking situation, you really should take a test drive vehicle and try it out before buying.

 

[Eclectic]

Interesting to me how vigorously some people defend summon. There are certainly use cases and some owners who do get great utility out of it, but I have to imagine <5% of owners ever use summon in a meaningful way. The only use I have found so far is that my 3 year old thinks it is cool that he can back up the car using my phone. So I certainly fall into the chunk of owners where I have only found use of it as a party trick.

Summon can't even back out of my straight driveway successfully. It will steer away from perceived obstacles directly towards actual obstacles. I could probably tweak the settings to make it work better, but even if it worked perfectly I probably wouldn't find any reason to use it. I think for new owners, the best advice we can give is to expect it to have very limited usefulness and then be pleasantly surprised when it will work for you. If you absolutely need summon for your parking situation, you really should take a test drive vehicle and try it out before buying.

Summon is not the most useful feature of a Tesla, but there are times when it's really helpful. For example, yesterday I was parking in one of those airport garages that have ridiculously narrow spaces, with a concrete beam on the driver's side that was so close as to make it nearly impossible to get out of the car. So I just lined the car up, got out and used summon to drive it into the spot.

And yes, it will steer around objects (assuming they are big enough to be seen by the sensors), so it's not just a straight back/forward trick.

It's nothing like the feature that Musk promised at the initial P85D intro, and I'm still highly annoyed at that bit of deception, but it's not simply a party trick either.

 

[kort677]

My driveway is tight with a 6' fence and wall one side, and a small planter curb on the other with the actual house only a few feet from that. The car would literally be only about 12" away from the fence side.

that is where the summons feature could be handy

 

[kort677]

It's nothing like the feature that Musk promised at the initial P85D intro, and I'm still highly annoyed at that bit of deception, but it's not simply a party trick either.

just another near miss by an overly exuberant elon, par for this course

 

[ecarfan]

Summon as it currently exists is just the first step towards a much more capable future version. Tesla isn't afraid to release something that offers only a fraction of the capability that is planned for. Along the way Tesla puts up with plenty of criticism. Fair enough. But it would also be fair for the critics (who rarely are automotive engineers but sometimes pass judgement as if they were) to keep in mind the ambitious goals Tesla sets.

 

[detlefo]

I find it incredibly useful. Before summon I had to be a contortionist to get into the car with the window open. I had to park very close to the wall so my SO could get into her car. After summon, problem solved easy in and out car parks itself and exits itself. I'll take this relatively small step gratefully and look forward to increased capability over time. My 90D is my second Tesla and thanks to Tesla I have learned patience.

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

Is it possible to activate summon, with the phone app, and have the car move a few feet, from miles away? Just wondering because the auto body shop I took it to says that’s why they turn off my ability to see where my car is, with the phone app. That and they don’t want me remotely honking the horn at them.