Tesla's parking lot Summon upgrade arrives in the US next week

Tesla is ready to bring its parking lot-savvy Summon upgrade to its cars in earnest. Elon Musk has revealed that Enhanced Summon will be widely available in the US next week to Tesla owners who sprung for either the Enhanced Autopilot or Full Self-Driving packages. Tap a button in the Tesla mobile app and your EV can drive to you, saving you the trouble of walking to the far end of the lot. You can either have it drive to your current location or to a specific pin.

International support is coming, Musk added.

There are some caveats. Aside from the parking lot requirement (road rules would prevent this on public streets), you or your pin has to be within 150 feet of the car. This won't help much if you and your car are at opposite ends of a sprawling shopping center. And of course, it's only going to be as quick as the parking lot itself -- you might as well march over if it's particularly busy.

Nonetheless, it's a big upgrade for Tesla users. Until now, Summon was only useful for inching into (or out of) a tight parking spot. Now, it's viable for many of those shopping trips where your vehicle won't be anywhere near the door.