Technology is cool and it lets us do all sorts of nifty stuff. Remember, once upon a time, when you had to pay attention to how long you could park your car in a spot before getting a ticket? And then, when your time was up, you had to run and move your car at the most inconvenient moment? That’s so last year. Tesla’s Summon feature has one clever owner doing this without leaving his desk.
You wouldn’t think this was what Tesla had in mind when they developed Summon, but consider the wonder that is Elon Musk. This guy does stuff just because he can and because it amuses him. He sent a car into space for crying out loud. Maybe this is exactly what Musk had in mind?
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Here’s how Summon works. The idea is to let you move your car without having to be at the wheel, but it’s not quite like that RC car you played with as a kid. It will currently let you move your car forward and backwards short distances and is intended for use only on private roads.
You can’t simply sit at your desk and summon your car from your house 20 miles away. It’s a neat feature, but one that has limited practical applications. We can see it coming in handy if someone wedges in too close for your to open your doors, or if your car is just a bit away in the driveway and it’s pouring rain. Otherwise, when would you use it?
It looks like there is another use case for Summon and it’s one D Shawn Kennedy shared on his Twitter feed. He has to park his Tesla on a city street and the city started enforcing a two-hour parking policy. That’s darned inconvenient, unless you have a Tesla and your handy-dandy smartphone.
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Rather than running downstairs every two hours to move his car, Kennedy simple uses the Summon feature to move it into another parking spot. He showed off his technique in a shot from his office window.
I was not sure when I would use this feature… till today. @elonmusk @tesla pic.twitter.com/bC6rFt2SuW
— D Shawn Kennedy (@rarelyserious) October 31, 2018
This won’t work if the street gets crowded and there isn’t a spot directly in front of or behind his car, but it’s still a neat trick. Here’s your proof that all that fancy self-driving technology will make your life easier, or at least a little more fun.
