Elon Musk sees the car of the future driving itself over 2,000 miles to pick you up
Tesla, the Elon Musk-owned electric car company, released an update for its Model S and Model X cars that allowed them to park themselves. Never one to rest on his laurels, Musk then announced that, by 2018, he expects this feature to work absolutely anywhere you can drive your car.
Currently, Tesla’s Summon technology is only capable of driving in a straight line. Its uses are limited, with Tesla suggesting it’s best used for parking your car in a garage at night, or for wheeling itself out in the morning. But that’s just its beta-stage ambitions – the finished version should, as Musk explains, be able to drive itself almost anywhere.
Musk outlined his ambitions for the service in a tweet, saying: “Summon should work anywhere connected by land and not blocked by borders.”
In Musk’s final vision of Summon, you should be able to bring your car to you from the other side of the US, or the other end of the UK. It’ll be smart enough to stop off and charge itself if it can’t make the journey in one go, and it’ll sync with your phone’s calendar so it knows exactly where to go.
The best thing about all of this is that, if you own a current Model S or Model X, it should have the functionality by 2018. Your expensive electric car purchase will still be relevant.
Now watch this: Tesla’s snake charger is awesome
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