Teslas Will Soon Park Themselves When Arriving at Destination - Smarter Summon and Driverless Autopark Coming

May 13, 2024

By Not a Tesla App Staff

FSD will soon automatically park when arriving

Not a Tesla App

With the Spring Update and FSD V12.4 around the corner, Elon Musk shared that Actually Smart Summon and Banish (Autopark) are coming soon, along with some other updates to the new vision-based Auto Park.

FSD to Automatically Park at Destination

On FSD v12.3.6, which now includes the new Vision-based Autopark for vehicles with ultrasonic sensors, users have to manually search for and select a parking spot if they want to use Autopark. However, according to a post from Musk, FSD will automatically enter Autopark mode upon arriving at its destination. This will essentially combine the current FSD capabilities with Autopark and add the ability for the vehicle to traverse a parking lot looking for an empty space.

Banish Autopark Coming Soon

Smarter Summon and Banish Autopark, with the ability to send the car to and from a parking space without anyone in the car, will be coming soon, as per Musk’s recent X post.

Banish Autopark, previously known as Reverse Summon, is expected to include various parking options, such as “closest to the door”, “near cart returns”, or “end of the parking lot”. This would drop the owner off at the entrance to a location while having the vehicle automatically find a parking spot and then park itself. At least that is Tesla’s full vision, as Musk has talked about before. It’s not clear whether the Banish Autopark feature, will actually include all of these capabilities in v1, or if Tesla will slowly add more features to it. What we know now is that Tesla is working on having the vehicle park itself without a driver inside. It may simply be an extension of the Autopark we have today, where the driver finds a parking spot, selects it, and then exits the vehicle as it parks itself. This could be exceptionally useful for parking in tight spaces.

Actually Smart Summon Coming to Vehicles Without USS

Smarter Summon on the other hand, is an update to the existing Smart Summon functionality that is currently available on cars that have ultrasonic sensors (USS). Actually Smart Summon is expected to bring that functionality to Vision-only cars as well.

In traditional Tesla fashion, Tesla is building upon what it already has. Tesla first released Summon, which allowed the vehicle to move only forward or backward in a straight line. Tesla then released Smart Summon which allowed the vehicle to move toward a target, navigating obstacles on the way, and soon we’ll have an even more capable version of Smart Summon.

Release Date

Musk has previously mentioned that upcoming updates to FSD V12, will have various focuses on improvements. V12.4 will focus on user comfort, while v12.5 will focus on more complex scenarios.

These next two major FSD versions will probably take us to the end of the year. Banish Autopark will probably be arriving closer to v12.4 as a comfort improvement, while Actually Smart Summon, which relies upon the ability to reverse, may arrive in FSD V12.5.

Tesla Is Now Offering Cybertruck Test Drives [List of Locations]

July 26, 2024

By Karan Singh

@brandonhd

Tesla has begun to reach out to customers in the United States and is offering demo drives of the Cybertruck on an invite-only basis. @brandonhd on X shared the first invite image, and it looks like it's going out quite quickly to multiple locations that have Cybertrucks on display.

Up until now, display vehicles have been for just that – looking, but no touching. Some Tesla delivery centers and showrooms have also allowed viewers to take a seat inside and open it up, but most are still locked away behind the velvet rope.

It’s exciting to see that Tesla has begun to demo them – and it can only be so long until demo drives open up to everyone.

Advisor-led Demo

This Demo Drive is led by a Tesla Advisor – while you’re driving, the advisor will be in the passenger seat, walking you through the experience. They’ll explain steer-by-wire, off-road controls, and will introduce new-to-Tesla buyers to all the features that are currently available.

Once FSD V12.5 comes to the Cybertruck, we’re sure they’ll be demoing its capabilities FSD capabilities as well.

Locations

The list of locations so far for demo drives appears to be fairly limited, but we will hopefully see demo drives roll out throughout the United States, and eventually Canada too. Here is the current list of city/state locations that have seen demo drive invites.

Manhasset, New York
West Covina, California
Los Angeles, California
Houston, Texas
Orlando, Florida
Westmont, Illinois
Tucson, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Delaware

Musk Confirms 'Actually Smart Summon' is Coming in a Revision of FSD V12.5

July 26, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

Actually Smart Summon, the successor to Tesla’s Smart Summon feature, has been confirmed to be coming as soon as next month as per Elon Musk. Colloquially known as “ASS”, Actually Smart Summon is supposed to improve on the regular Smart Summon capabilities, which have historically used ultrasonic sensors (USS) to navigate parking lots.

We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon, and we’re quite excited about what other features will be unlocked once it finally shows up at our doorstep.

Vision-based Improvements

ASS is supposed to bring Smart Summon to vehicles that don’t have USS – using Tesla Vision. Most recently, Tesla has brought Autopark to vehicles without USS, and Vision-based Autopark has been a huge success. It is faster, more reliable, and smoother than the older USS-based solution. It can also park and maneuver in tighter locations.

Just recently, Tesla returned the Model X’s self-presenting doors, using Tesla Vision. Vision has seen some fantastic improvements, and many people are waiting for ASS to bring forth these improvements to Smart Summon.

Smart Summon Today

Today, Smart Summon is sometimes useful at best, usually a party trick, or downright dangerous at worst. It’s excellent and best used in straight lines, where you have a clear line of sight of the vehicle, and can stop it if doesn’t see an obstacle.

I used Smart Summon today, just before writing this article – my 2022 Model Y (with USS) – did manage to show up just fine – in a straight-line location from where I was parked, after exiting the parking spot fairly cleanly. However, I’ve previously used Smart Summon and have had the vehicle turn towards obstacles, such as cart returns or curbs. Overall, it’s a sometimes-useful feature that has a lot of drawbacks right now.

Smart Summon is also restricted to a certain distance – and it's pretty small. The max distance is shorter than most parking lots, being only about 215 ft (65m). If you’re lucky enough to park close, it's very useful to bring your car right to you.

Actually Smart Summon

ASS will bring FSD V12-like capabilities to Smart Summon – the vehicle will primarily use Vision to drive toward you (or the location you’ve indicated). ASS has been supposed to be coming since about September 2022 and has seen many delays – we’re almost at the 2-year point today.

We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon being able to bring the vehicle – safely – right to you. ASS is also one of the key steps towards bringing some other cool features that Elon Musk has previously mentioned – Park Seek and Banish Autopark.

We’re also hopeful that Actually Smart Summon will increase the maximum range a vehicle can be summoned, because the current range is fairly small. Alongside Park Seek and Banish Autopark, we’re closing in on a Robotaxi-based future.

Park Seek and Banish Autopark

When the FSD v12.4 showed up, Elon also mentioned that going forward, vehicles would automatically park themselves when arriving in a parking lot – Park Seek – and that if you got out of the car at the entrance to a business, you could get it to automatically park itself in the parking lot – Banish Autopark. These are two features that are needed for Robotaxi to work – which itself is delayed to October 10^th of this year. We’re looking quite forward to them – as in combination with Actually Smart Summon, Tesla has reached the cusp of vehicle autonomy.

A vehicle that arrives, driverless, at the location you’re at, then drives somewhere, parks itself there, and waits for you – is the definition of a Robotaxi.

While we’re likely to have to wait for Banish Autopark and Park Seek just a bit longer, Actually Smart Summon being around the corner is exciting! Gone will be the days of having to run out to your car when you forgot your umbrella – your car will just come right to you instead.