Tesla’s Advanced Summon Will Make Your Car “Follow You Like A Pet”

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has revealed that an updated version of the car manufacturer’s Summon feature will be introduced in less than six weeks.

In a series of tweets, Musk revealed that ‘advanced’ Summon will be an over-the-air software upgrade and will work on all vehicles made with Autopilot hardware V2+.

The new-and-improved Summon will allow Tesla vehicles to travel to the location of an owner’s phone and will be able to “follow you like a pet if you hold down summon button on Tesla app,” Musk tweeted. Additionally, advanced summon will allow vehicles to find empty parking spots and read parking signs.

While some may call the feature a gimmick, it does have a few potentially useful benefits. For example, drivers who aren’t the most confident at parking could simply hop out at a parking lot and use Tesla’s app to send their Tesla to find its own parking space.

Expect Tesla owners to love this piece of improved tech.

Tesla’s existing Summon feature allows owners to move a vehicle backwards and forwards a few inches at a time when outside of the vehicle, allowing them to squeeze into tight parking spaces and garages.

Ars Technica reports that Tesla’s ultimate goal is to develop its autonomous technologies to a point where owners can jump out of their vehicle, have it find a parking space automatically, and then come back and pick up the driver on command. The electric automaker has been promising such features since 2016.

It remains to be seen how authorities will respond to news that Tesla owners will soon be able to drive their vehicles “like a big RC car.”