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Tesla cars can now drive themselves across a car park

Tesla has begun wirelessly distributing version 10 of its software to its Model S, Model X and Model 3 vehicles.


The standout feature of the latest software update is Smart Summon (also referred to Enhanced Summon), which is only available to customers who have paid for Full Self-Driving Capability or Enhanced Autopilot for their vehicle.

To use Smart Summon, owners hold down a button on the Tesla smartphone app, and the car will drive itself to you across a car park avoiding people, cars, road users and other objects.

The car can drive itself to the owner's location or any place within a 60 metre radius around the owner's smartphone.

Smart Summon has been available in pre-release builds of the version 10 software, and owners have taken to YouTube to show how the system works. (We've embedded one below, with the Smart Summon section starting at around the nine minute mark.)

From what we've seen, the feature works slowly, but struggles at times, and often comes up with unusual or circuitous routes to its destination.

Tesla recommends the car be "within your line of sight because it may not detect all obstacles", and states users "must remain responsible for the car and monitor it and its surroundings at all times".

According to the company, the feature "is only intended for use in private parking lots and driveways".

Other new features in version 10 include built-in support for Spotify music streaming, and the Netflix and Hulu video-on-demand services.

The automatic lane change feature now shows drivers where in the adjacent lane it is planning to drive to. Recording is now available from the rear camera, as well as the forward and side-facing units.

There's also a new karaoke mode, dubbed Caraoke, which is able to remove the vocal track from a large library of music, and the Cuphead game has been added to the Arcade app.

Note: Not all features are available in all markets. Australian Tesla owners, when your cars are upgraded to version 10 and let us know which features are present, and which aren't.

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