Watch Tesla owner ‘summon’ his Model 3 from down the road

More Tesla owners are starting to get the beta version of the new Enhanced Summon and some of them are already pushing the feature to new limits, like using it on public roads.

Enhanced Summon builds on Tesla’s previous ‘Summon’ feature, which was used by owners to move their cars autonomously for a few feet in their driveway or tight parking situations.

With the new version, owners are able to Summon their Tesla vehicles from further away and the cars will navigate more complexed parking environments.

Earlier this year, we published an exclusive first look at Tesla’s new Enhanced Summon.

The feature is meant to be used in private driveways and parking lots, but now that Tesla is starting to release Enhanced Summon to more owners, we are seeing them push the feature further.

Model 3 owner Anthony LaPenta posted a video of himself summoning his Model 3 from down the street:

The Tesla Model 3 appears to be in LaPenta’s driveway when he initiates the summon from down the street, which prompts the Tesla to autonomously drive out of the driveway and on a public residential street for what seems like about 100 feet.

According to the beta release sent to owners in the ‘Early Access Program’, the feature works up to 150 feet from the car.

There’s no word on when the new Tesla Summon feature will make it to the wider fleet, but it is expected relatively soon as the company is already expanding the rollout.

Electrek’s Take

I am quite certain that there are regulatory issues with using that feature on public roads, like this residential street, because it results in a truly “driverless” car moving on its own on the road.

Though to be fair, Tesla says that the owners are still responsible to monitor the vehicle and they can make it stop from the app.

However, it is not exactly the same as keeping your hands on the steering wheel when using Autopilot.

My understanding is that Tesla planned on limiting the new Enhanced Autopilot features to private parking lots, but it looks like there’s currently no geo-locking feature to prevent an owner from activating it on public roads.

We will monitor if they change that as the rollout expands to the wider fleet.

Let us know what you think of Tesla’s new Enhanced Summon feature in the comment section below and if you have any experience with it.