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Tesla's Model S now drives up to meet you
The Summon feature saves you from dealing with tight parking spaces, including your garage.
When Tesla first unveiled its semi-autonomous driving upgrades for the Model S, it made much ado over the ability to summon your car -- you wouldn't have to go into the garage (or walk across a large parking space) just to get moving. Well, that option is finally here. The newly available 7.1 update adds a Summon feature to the Autopilot that has the EV drive itself to meet you, or park in typical spaces. It'll even open and close your HomeLink-compatible garage door. You have to be within 39 feet of your target for this to work (it won't fetch your car from the back of the company parking lot), but you may never have to grapple with narrow parking spaces again.
When Tesla giveth, however, it also taketh away. The 7.1 release dials back Autosteer to prevent some of the chaos that early testers have experienced. If you're on a residential road (or any road without a center divider), the Model S' autopilot will cap the speed at 5MPH above the posted limit; you can't make it go faster even if you fiddle with the cruise control. While that's not very exciting, it should prevent the car from hurtling itself around at unsafe speeds when your hands aren't on the wheel.
[Image credit: J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post via Getty Images]
