The Tesla Model S Receives a New Summon Feature

Since Tesla cars rely heavily on complex software, the company’s engineers are constantly working on software updates that are meant to improve the car’s features or add completely new ones. Those of you who are fortunate enough to own a Tesla Model S will be glad to know that the recent software update 7.1 allows your car to park itself to a certain degree. Thanks to the new Summon feature, the Model S can now be parked into tight spots that would make it difficult for the driver to come out of the car, such as small one-car garages. In order to take advantage of this new system, the driver needs to align the car in front of the garage door and press and hold the center button on the key fob until the hazard lights start flashing. Afterwards, a simple click on the trunk button will make the car drive forward into the open parking spot.

Apparently, Summon is currently in its Beta phase, which means that drivers need to go to Controls > Settings > Driver Assistance > Autopilot in order to enable it. Moreover, the new software update includes support for perpendicular spaces in Park Assist, which was previously limited to parallel parking only. Just in case you’re not aware, the Autopilot system for the Tesla Model S was implemented in October via the software update 7.0. However, since drivers started to do reckless things by enabling the Autosteer option, the system will now be restricted if they attempt to use it on streets without a central divider or on residential roads.