Bumpy start for Tesla app that summons car to owner

IT sounds a jolly good idea – an app that lets the owner of a Tesla summon their driverless car from wherever it has been parked.

However, the feature has been ridiculed after a series of mishaps – many of them filmed and posted online. They show Teslas mounting kerbs and causing traffic jams and near- collisions, with ordinary motorists having to hit their brakes.

The ‘smart summon’ smartphone app was released last week by Tesla, the electric carmaker based in Silicon Valley, California, whose lowest-priced vehicle, the Model 3, costs £39,000.

Company founder Elon Musk is especially proud of his cars’ self- driving features. But the problems with ‘smart summon’ show that the technology still has some way to go.

in the uS, the national Highway Traffic Safety administration has been examining the online videos to determine if the feature is safe.

among them is footage shot in Frisco, Texas, showing the owner trying to summon his Tesla from a car park. it exits into the path of an oncoming car which has to brake hard to avoid a crash. a friend can be heard saying: ‘Oh my god!’

another posted a photo of their dented Tesla and said: ‘Tried in my empty driveway. Car ran into the side of garage.’

a further video shot from a drone shows a Tesla halting for a full minute in a supermarket car park while it thinks what to do, blocking in other cars.

Tesla fans have defended the feature, only available in the uS, because it is a beta, or test, version. Mr Musk said there was an ‘update expected to go out this weekend’.