Tesla’s Smart Summon is nearing a significant upgrade. According to Elon Musk, Actually Smart Summon, yes, with the acronym ASS, is nearing completion. The CEO was asked if Full Self Driving (FSD) Version 11 would include the feature; Musk tweeted: Going without saying that we all want ASS (Actually Smart Summon) ASAP!!
He’s right. ASS would change how many Tesla owners interact with their vehicles daily and move the brand further ahead of the competition. ASS would be an enhanced version of the Smart Summon that is currently available. By pressing the Summon button on the Tesla app, the vehicle will use the smartphone’s GPS coordinates to find its driver. This feature has the potential to be a game changer for people who have to walk through cold, deserted parking lots late at night. It will help increase convenience as well as safety, however, it has a long way to go from its current implementation.
It’s unclear if the improved version of Smart Summon will just be an enhancement to what’s available or if it will include Park Seek. It’s been referred to as Reverse Summon for years, but now named Park Seek enables a Tesla to drop off its occupants, including the driver, and then go park all by itself. While the driver doesn’t need to be in the vehicle while it finds a parking spot, they can pick preferred spaces. There will be three modes in Park Seek: closest to the entrance, near a cart return, and at the end of the parking lot.
Tesla’s Autopilot team spoke in detail during A.I. Day 2022 about advancements in Full Self Driving, including navigating parking lots. A lot of the improvements came through developing a single stack, or one code base, to operate the car on highways, city streets and parking lots.
Tesla’s director of the Autopilot program, Ashok Elluswamy, said, “FSD beta software is quite capable of driving the car. It should be able to navigate from parking lot to parking lot, city street driving, stopping for traffic lights and stops signs, negotiating with objects at intersections, making turns and so on.”
Paril Jain, the Manager of Autopilot Motion Planning, added timelines to the program “we do expect to also include the parking lot stack as a part of the FSD stack before the end of this year. So, that will basically bring us to you sitting in the car in the parking lot and drive till the end of the parking lot, at a parking spot, before the end of this year.”
FSD Version 11, with a single stack, started to roll out on November 11 at 11:11. Musk said it would take a few weeks before it goes to Beta and then a few more weeks before it goes for a wide release to the United States and Canada. If and when that happens, there will be more than 1 million FSD users. Those users will also be able to have their Tesla pick them up and drop them off.
Verified Tesla stock owners are now part of a random draw to attend an event that will change the world. On December 1, Elon Musk will deliver the first Tesla Semis to Pepsi Co. This event will mark the day the trucking industry got shaken up, and the day the transportation business got electrified. Tesla shareholders can be there.
Martin Viecha, Tesla’s Head of Investor Relations, tweeted: If you want to attend the Semi delivery event as a retail shareholder, please make sure you have a verified shareholder status on our IR website (unverified manual submissions are eligible if the paperwork is correct). We’ll be doing a random draw where 1 share = 1 entry. He also shared the tweet from Tesla announcing the Shareholder Platform, which enables retail traders to verify their Tesla stock in minutes.
The event itself is one thing; it also signifies the return of the Tesla experience. Musk and his team have held parties for years to show off some of their new ideas to enthusiasts and fans. Many people responded to Viecha’s tweet, hoping to be invited and looking forward to Tesla’s latest launch event. Of course, the company would not be holding an event if Musk handed the Tesla keycards to some Pepsi delivery truck drivers. The event could serve as a relaunch. It’s been five years since the CEO rolled onto the stage in this massive vehicle he referred to as a beast. Therefore we may require a refresher, and it would be an opportunity for Musk to reiterate all the details of the Semi and how they match or exceed what he promised in 2017.
Here’s a quick recap of what Musk has said the Semi would be able to do. Firstly, it will reach 60 miles per hour in five seconds, 20 seconds at the fully loaded maximum 80,000 pounds gross vehicle weight. It has a 500-mile range at maximum load weight and highway speeds. Megachargers (already installed at Pepsi in California) take an empty Semi to 70% in 30 minutes; that will be enough for 350 miles and last about six hours of driving.
Musk guaranteed the Semi would not break down for a million miles. He made the promise because of the vehicle’s independent drivetrains, should one shut down, the others would take over. It also has thermal nuclear glass, a big deal because windshields are regularly replaced on trucks for safety concerns. That downtime won’t impact Tesla’s Semi.
These are just a few highlights. More about the Semi can be found in our story, Everything We Know About the Semi. Or you could be one of the lucky shareholders invited to the event on December 1 and find out for yourself.
Elon Musk has said it before but will repeat it whenever asked. While virtually attending the B20 conference in Indonesia, Musk was asked about creating a smaller, more affordable car. The moderator suggested it be called the Model I for India or Indonesia. It’s a reoccurring question, but with competition also targeting a cheaper price point, Tesla must find a way to get there.
Musk responded to the question familiarly, “I can’t speak too much to the future of Tesla product development, except to say that we do think that making a much more affordable vehicle would make a lot of sense and we should do something.”
It’s something Tesla will have to do. Volvo’s CEO Jim Rowan told Automotive New Europe that EVs should be at price parity with gas cars in a couple of years.
The manufacturer has also teased a small EV that it sees as entry-level for consumers. It’s set a goal of producing 600,000 battery-powered vehicles by 2025. So far this year, it has made 40,500. Therefore, the new small vehicle the company is talking about would have to be a price point that would move many cars. Rowan said, “city car aimed at a younger demographic who can subscribe to it and make it their first Volvo.”
Tesla has already brought down the price of producing electric vehicles, but Volvo says it can do better. Volvo said during its Capital Markets Day presentations that it plans to have battery pack costs down to less than $100 per kilowatt hour by 2025-26. A recent tear-down of the Tesla Model 3 pack, overseen by analysts from UBS bank, showed a cost of $131 per kWh.
During the third quarter earnings call, Musk said that Tesla’s new vehicle development team was already working on the next platform and would incorporate everything the company has learned from Models S, 3, X, Y, Semi and Cybertruck.
He also said that the target was to create a 2-for-1, as in producing two cars using the same effort it currently takes to build one. “It will be smaller, to be clear. But it will, I think, certainly become, certainly exceed the production of all our other vehicles combined.”
There have been rumblings of a Model 2, a vehicle that would cost around $25,000, for a few years around Tesla.
With the company having a hard time keeping up with orders for the Model 3 and Model Y, that didn’t seem necessary. However, Musk could also be alluding to the company’s upcoming Robotaxi, or possibly a platform will be shared by both vehicles.
The company must address the need for a cheaper vehicle with the competition catching up and targeting areas where Tesla doesn’t currently offer products.
View the release notes for the upcoming version 2022.40.6.
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Verified Tesla stock owners are now part of a random draw to attend an event that will change the world. On December …
Elon Musk has said it before but will repeat it whenever asked. While virtually attending the B20 conference in Indon…
Tesla’s Full Self Driving (FSD) Beta Version 11 was released at 11:11 on November 11 as a possible nod to our veteran…
Tesla removed all the patents in the lobby of its Palo Alto headquarters prompting Elon Musk to explain in a blog, “T…
Just in time for Christmas, Tesla’s wait times are considerably shorter. Model S or Model X Plaid have estimated deli…
An update to the Tesla App is in the store. While 4.14.3 doesn’t appear to have much that will impact current Tesla…
Apple Music is one of the most requested features by Tesla owners. Tesla already supports a variety of music serv…
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View all known voice commands for your Tesla.
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