Even More Frightening Videos And Photos Surface Of Tesla’s “Smart” Summon Feature

Updated 10/2/2019

With Tesla releasing V10 of its vehicle software earlier this week, owners were chomping at the bit to get their hands on the long touted “Smart Summon” feature, which is supposed to allow drivers to summon their vehicles to them in parking lots using their cell phones. 

But, as things go with Tesla, the idea of the idea was worlds away from the actual implementation of it. In fact, early customer videos and reports of the “feature” are making Smart Summon look extremely dangerous and nothing short of a complete disaster. 

As soon as the software update pushed to drivers, videos began popping up on social media showing a litany of negative consequences of everyday users beta testing Smart Summon in real life. 

Tesla says that with Smart Summon “customers who have purchased Full Self-Driving Capability or Enhanced Autopilot can enable their car to navigate a parking lot and come to them or their destination of choice, as long as their car is within their line of sight. It’s the perfect feature to use if you have an overflowing shopping cart, are dealing with a fussy child, or simply don’t want to walk to your car through the rain.”

Tesla claims that “customers who have had early access to Smart Summon have told us that it adds both convenience to their trips and provides them with a unique moment of delight when their car picks them up to begin their journey.”

Let’s compare Tesla’s description of the feature with the real world results.

There’s this video of another vehicle backing into a Model 3 while it was being summoned in a crowded parking lot. 

Soday 1 with V10 Smart Summon was working beautifully. But someone didn’t notice my M3 and made a front bumper damage. We will claim our insurances but who’s fault do you guys think it’ll be ? Should I present this videos ? @teslaownersSV @Model3Owners @LikeTeslaKim @TesLatino pic.twitter.com/fhSA78oD6C

— David F Guajardo (@DavidFe83802184) September 28, 2019

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There’s these photographs, posted to Twitter on Tuesday, showing damage after summon drove a Tesla into a parking structure pole.

#EnhancedSummon failed.. drove into the parking structure pole. What’s really frustrating is there’s no clear channel to report incidents like this to @Tesla. I don’t want to spend 40+ min on the phone just to report. Chat agent seems to be impossible to connect. #Model3 pic.twitter.com/1W5IUUh0Hp

— Tako Hisada 🐙 (@takoloco) October 1, 2019

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…and this photo of a Tesla that appears to have hopped the curb due to summon.

@Tesla @elonmusk I think enhanced summon may have some bugs still, but so excited to have this remote control car! pic.twitter.com/niNQflI99N

— jamie coulter (@fj4518) September 27, 2019

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There’s this video from Monday of this week, showing summon almost hit another car in a very un-crowded parking lot, causing its owner to exclaim, “Holy shit!”:

I love my #Tesla Model 3 but the advanced summon might not be ready for prime time. More likely, I don’t know what the heck I’m doing. #teslasummonissues pic.twitter.com/57WABn62RQ

— Mark 🎵 (@KabbalahCowboy) September 30, 2019

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…another Tesla that drove up a curb…

What happens when Smart Summon doesn’t see the curb. Check out my latest video. https://t.co/jAj0BcvPST pic.twitter.com/OGzXocfnMN

— Frugal Tesla Guy (@guy_frugal) September 30, 2019

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Then there is exceptionally alarming video where a driverless Tesla pulls across a lane of live traffic, forcing another driver to slam on their brakes. 

So, @elonmusk – My first test of Smart Summon didn’t go so well. @Tesla #Tesla #Model3 pic.twitter.com/yC1oBWdq1I

— Roddie Hasan – راضي (@eiddor) September 28, 2019

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This video was released on Monday morning, showing a Tesla’s “embarrassing” attempt to navigate a Walmart parking lot:

Holy S. FFS. I was straight up laughing for the first minute or so of this one. Stock should be down 50 this AM. This is just embarrassing. $TSLA https://t.co/LxlsrQoQw1

— SBG (@stkbullgod) September 30, 2019

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There’s also been adamant warnings from Tesla owners that summon “isn’t safe or production ready”. 

Be forewarned @Tesla @elonmusk Enhanced summon isn’t safe or production ready. Tried in my empty drive way. Car went forward and ran into the side of garage. Love the car but saddened. #Tesla #TeslaModel3 pic.twitter.com/tRZ88DmXAW

— AB (@abgoswami) September 28, 2019

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There was also this drone footage of two failed attempts in a crowded parking lot, one of which shows a Tesla pointing itself at oncoming traffic and causing a traffic jam. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH4zmcn5Wbc]

There was this wildly inefficient drive in a completely empty parking lot…

What’s worse then Tesla Enhanced Summon in daylight?
If you guessed at night, well, you’d be right.
Smooth as broken glass, she is. Now picture this feature in a crowded holiday parking lot. #ComingSoon #TeslaEntitlement $TSLA $TSLAQ #TheSociopathicBusinessModel #FraudFormula pic.twitter.com/p9oa2BGnnm

— KillingMyCareer (@MelaynaLokosky) September 28, 2019

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And this photo showing a Tesla grinding against the outside of a garage…

…and this video of a Tesla pointing directly at parked cars and driving over white lines in a crowded parking lot.

Looks like Tesla CEO Elon Musk isn’t the only one who likes white lines:
This $TSLA Enhanced Summon owner’s car heads TOWARDS parked cars going over the white parking lines.@TheJusticeDept allowing human beta testing will kill more people than guns or climate change.$TSLAQ pic.twitter.com/utbjYdpQyl

— KillingMyCareer (@MelaynaLokosky) September 27, 2019

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And while there’s been outrage by members of the Tesla community – it has been because other Tesla owners are actually sharing their experiences.

After a #Tesla owner posted a crash video that was caused by him playing around with his “smart summon” feature in a parking lot, he got chastised by another Tesla enthusiast because he could have easily gotten away with it if he had only lied about what happened. $TSLAQ pic.twitter.com/Jik6FaRIvD

— Nixon’s Head (@Nixons_Head_) September 29, 2019

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As usual, FinTwit summed things up the best…

Watching all these summon videos….$TSLAQ pic.twitter.com/DTlDOzGbJX

— Carl Kobelke (@carlkobelke) September 29, 2019

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…and arrived at the one simple, obvious question about the feature that we’re all asking:

Why in the everloving fuck is this legal https://t.co/mkjfdnBJUt

— Quoth the Raven (@QTRResearch) September 28, 2019

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