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Elon Musk has recently unveiled Tesla's Smart Summon feature through a demo video on X (formerly Twitter), getting the internet buzzing. In the clip, the Tesla chief showed a car's ability to drive itself to the owner from any parking spot.
The technology mirrors a scene from the 1997 James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies, where 007 controls his BMW 750iL using his mobile phone. Elon Musk seems to have taken it one step further by making the car move without any human control with his Smart Summon technology.
A futuristic demo video was enough to make thousands of automobile fans hop on to X to share their input. While some suggested innovative ways to use the feature, others were all about memes.
"Also farts to say hi when it reaches you," joked a fan on X.
"This is crazy!!! Legit!" lauded another.
""Where the hell i parked my human?!?"" quipped one.
One fan suggested an interesting way to use this feature in the future, saying:
"At some point, Tesla drivers should be allowed to download ride-sharing apps on their cars and send them off via FSD to make extra money for them."
"I wonder if you summon your car and it gets pulled over for running a stop sign—who gets the ticket, you or the car?" joked a fan on X.
"Elon, I’ll donate any of my body parts to anyone who needs it if you can send one of these vehicles for my wife. What the heck do I need my heart for if her driving is going to kill me anyway?!?!?" wrote another.
Although Elon Musk has refrained from announcing a date when the features will be rolled out in its vehicles, it is safe to say that remotely summoning a vehicle like in science fiction movies may soon be a part of reality.
Elon Musk faces moment of truth as Tesla loses market share in Europe
A research paper published by JATO Dynamics at the end of August revealed Tesla's diminishing market shares in Europe, especially in countries like Germany and France.
BMW's new iX2 compact crossover catapulted the brand to become Europe's leading brand for fully electric vehicles for the first time in July. The report by JATO claims that BMW sold 14,900 fully electric cars in January, 300 more than Elon Musk's company as the sales of Model Y plummeted in July.
This is especially true for markets with a huge population of electric car consumers like Germany and France. While the diminishing subsidies and new tariffs on Model 3 sedans have accounted for some market loss, experts infer that Tesla's dwindling market return is because of Elon Musk trying to push the same portfolio of cars in a European EV market that demands something different.
PwC analyst Steven van Arsdale suggested that Elon Musk's company should immediately launch a smaller line of EVs to suit Europe's cramped spaces and narrow roads.
In a 2024 interview with Fortune, he commented:
“There’s some weakness in their armor. It’s surprising they’ve done as well as they have, but it will be hard to continue to grow volume without having something in the lower segments.”
According to Van Arsdale, Europe has always been a market for B-segment and C-segment cars. Therefore, Tesla's barrage of D-segment automobiles doesn't fit the needs of most Europeans.
