Summon in Australia

[EcoCloudIT]

Of course, we blame Canberra however the politician was most likely living in Melbourne or Sydney ;-)

Sorry, I'm an ex Canberian and it gripes me the Canberra blame shoved around when in fact nothing really happens that much in Canberra when it comes to regulation, only the enforcement/collect of it.

-ECIT

 

[bradjc]

Yeah, unfortunately Canberra is shorthand for government for most people, unless you live there. Canberra's still a pretty city.

 

[bradjc]

Apart from no homelink, so no door control, Summon also has been further restricted by Australian authorities.
To use Summon on an Australian Model S your fob has to be in range of the car and you can only control the car with the phone app.
Makes it almost useless for me as the most frequent place where I would use it is in my basement garage where there is no phone signal. Still I had to use it the other day when some clown parked too close to my drivers side and it worked well just takes a while to get the app connected and working.

Ok, thanks for that, I think I'll still get it, with hope Homelink in particular can be enabled at some point soon.

So just to clarify what you get when you order Autopilot is what was originally advertised (i.e. what the US gets), but;

- No Homelink and automatic garage door open/close, self drive parking/exit.

- No remote summon driving with the fob, (but all remote driving operations still available with iPhone and fob in range)

Is that all that's missing or have I missed something else?

 

[paulp]

What elements of Summon actually work here in Oz? I'm ording next week, but only just discovered that Homelink doesn't work here. All the marketing material said it would with the AP, even saw it demonstrated on the news the other night, had no idea it wasn't available in Australia. So I'm a little confused to what elements of the summon feature will actually work if it get the option. Cheers.

I wouldnt buy a tesla in australia for the summon feature. Its unreliable (summon that is), and as harsh as this sounds, its rubbish. It's not a feature to show friends, as guaranteed it wont work. That would not however stop me buying a tesla. Even though aussie summon is rubbish, even though we have no homelink, and we have no web browser, the car is still amazingly brilliant, and a shear joy to drive.

 

[paulp]

Ok, thanks for that, I think I'll still get it, with hope Homelink in particular can be enabled at some point soon.

So just to clarify what you get when you order Autopilot is what was originally advertised (i.e. what the US gets), but;

- No Homelink and automatic garage door open/close, self drive parking/exit.

- No remote summon driving with the fob, (but all remote driving operations still available with iPhone and fob in range)

Is that all that's missing or have I missed something else?

I'm not sure that we will ever get homelink, and to be honest I hope tesla gove up on the archaic system and give us a digital app based door opener instead. If we had a web browser it would be easy to do our own solution, but thats missing too. Still, you definately wont regret your purchase, and AP is incredibly good.

 

[bradjc]

I wouldnt buy a tesla in australia for the summon feature. Its unreliable (summon that is), and as harsh as this sounds, its rubbish. It's not a feature to show friends, as guaranteed it wont work. That would not however stop me buying a tesla. Even though aussie summon is rubbish, even though we have no homelink, and we have no web browser, the car is still amazingly brilliant, and a shear joy to drive.

Oh yeah, I'm sold on the car, just nitpicking the details now. Summon is definitely more show off than practical feature, but I could see it being useful to get the car out of our narrow garage. Is Oz Summon's problem the iPhone app? Just clunky instead of the fob link?

 

[paulp]

Oh yeah, I'm sold on the car, just nitpicking the details now. Summon is definitely more show off than practical feature, but I could see it being useful to get the car out of our narrow garage. Is Oz Summon's problem the iPhone app? Just clunky instead of the fob link?

It's possibly the app - but the problem is it cuts out all the time. Given the car aborts if anything is considered too close, and you have to be within 3 metres for summon to work, so the ability for it to work seem limited. Seems to work best standing right next to a front door, which kind of makes reversing less safe as you cant stand back and see behind the car. I think the most I've managed to get it to move is about 3 metres before failure.

 

[bradjc]

It's possibly the app - but the problem is it cuts out all the time. Given the car aborts if anything is considered too close, and you have to be within 3 metres for summon to work, so the ability for it to work seem limited. Seems to work best standing right next to a front door, which kind of makes reversing less safe as you cant stand back and see behind the car. I think the most I've managed to get it to move is about 3 metres before failure.

Sounds painful. :-/

 

[paulp]

Its a shocker, and I don't think for one moment that this fullfils the sales promise made as its not fit for purpose, but tesla do seem to have a habit of doing great things, so will give them a few more months to get it right.

 

[WhiteStar]

I think the problem is the latency in Summon control via the app regardless whether connected via WiFi or 3G/4G but especially when at the limit of WiFi range when it’ll switch between both. This doesn’t happen with a direct fob connection. The logic of regulators thinking they know best is beyond ridiculous with the end result often being a frustrating experience and conceivably unsafe or even dangerous given a confluence of unforseen circumstances.

 

[meloccom]

It's possibly the app - but the problem is it cuts out all the time. Given the car aborts if anything is considered too close, and you have to be within 3 metres for summon to work, so the ability for it to work seem limited. Seems to work best standing right next to a front door, which kind of makes reversing less safe as you cant stand back and see behind the car. I think the most I've managed to get it to move is about 3 metres before failure.

It's pretty easy to overcome the requirement for the fob to be in range for summon to work by placing the fob on the bonnet. Then you can stand anywhere to control the car with the app. I have done this a couple of times in my basement garage as I can get a 3G signal by standing near a vent that's 5 meters away from t
my parking space. Just don't drive off with the fob still on the bonnet!

 

[Mark E]

I suspect that what the bureaucrat was thinking was that the app is harder to false activate than the key fob that might be in your pocket. A bit like how the press and hold function to lower all of the windows was removed from the fob.

That being said, the current implementation is silly.

 

[raynewman]

I suspect that what the bureaucrat was thinking was that the app is harder to false activate than the key fob that might be in your pocket. A bit like how the press and hold function to lower all of the windows was removed from the fob.

That being said, the current implementation is silly.

It does show a total lack of brain power from some bureaucrat. The unfortunate bit is that it will take a very long time for him/her to admit that and, in the meantime, we are stuck with the current stupidity.

 

[cynix]

I think the real reason is that the regulators wanted Summon to abort as soon as you lift your finger from the button, but the fob hardware does not appear to support detecting continuous hold on its buttons.

 

[bradjc]

I think the real reason is that the regulators wanted Summon to abort as soon as you lift your finger from the button, but the fob hardware does not appear to support detecting continuous hold on its buttons.

Fob hardware rethink maybe would appease current laws, with deadman switch etc. Best we can hope for?

 

[raynewman]

I think the real reason is that the regulators wanted Summon to abort as soon as you lift your finger from the button, but the fob hardware does not appear to support detecting continuous hold on its buttons.

FOB hardware obviously does support continuous hold as 'hold rear button 4 seconds to open charge port'.

 

[cynix]

FOB hardware obviously does support continuous hold as 'hold rear button 4 seconds to open charge port'.

It's possible that it is hard-coded to send a single "long press" signal to the car after 4 seconds have elapsed, rather than constantly signalling the state of the button.

I really hope Tesla can push back harder on the regulators to allow fob-based Summon. I frequently find that the places where I need Summon the most are places without 3G coverage.

 

[ICUDoc]

but tesla do seem to have a habit of doing great things, so will give them a few more months to get it right.

Good point- remember the near-hysteria when Autopilot didn't come here immediately on release in USA???
Patience is hard but sensible.
Cynix has a good point too- Summon is usually necessary when wifi ain't available!!!!!

 

[paulp]

It's pretty easy to overcome the requirement for the fob to be in range for summon to work by placing the fob on the bonnet. Then you can stand anywhere to control the car with the app. I have done this a couple of times in my basement garage as I can get a 3G signal by standing near a vent that's 5 meters away from t
my parking space. Just don't drive off with the fob still on the bonnet!

I dont have a reception problem, as it cuts out anywhere I give it a go.
But just tried your suggestion, full phone signal, and after 5 goes the most I got before failure was under 3 meters.
Summon is rubbish. Its that simple. Its unreasonable to be blaming government employees because a system designed by tesla is rubbish and isnt fit for purpose.

 

[paulp]

It does show a total lack of brain power from some bureaucrat. The unfortunate bit is that it will take a very long time for him/her to admit that and, in the meantime, we are stuck with the current stupidity.

Surely its tesla's responsibility to make the functionality work properly with the known restriction? Clearly if summon is failing in areas with full phone strength, there is a significant design fault.