For a considerable time, Tesla’s vehicle lineup has been known for its autonomous driving capabilities. When the name Tesla is mentioned, many immediately think of AutoPilot, a Level 2 driving assistance system managing acceleration, braking, and steering within lanes, ideally suited for highway use. Despite its recommended use, Tesla does not limit its operation to highways, a decision that certainly has pros and cons.
Many are unaware that Tesla offers additional, more advanced autonomous driving features at a premium. Tesla provides two optional tiers for enhanced autonomy. The “Full Self-Driving Capability” tier, the more costly of the two at $12,000, grants access to the Full Self-Driving Beta software (FSD Beta). This software has been both greatly praised and criticized, enabling vehicles to navigate nearly any road, execute lane changes, and autonomously navigate through traffic lights and stop signs. This premium tier encompasses the benefits of the more affordable “Enhanced AutoPilot” package, which is priced at $6,000. Enhanced AutoPilot offers automatic lane changes while AutoPilot is active, introduces Smart Summon (which allows your vehicle to autonomously leave a parking space and come to you), and includes AutoPark, which enables your Tesla to identify and autonomously park in open parking spots.
However, owners of newer Tesla vehicles found that many of these services, aside from Auto Lane Change, were unavailable, even after paying the additional fee for Enhanced AutoPilot. AutoPilot remains a standard feature across all Tesla vehicles, but the lack of availability of these additional paid features within the Enchaned AutoPilot package has been a point of contention.
This issue stems from Tesla’s decision in 2021 to phase out ultrasonic sensors used for the AutoPark and Summon features, in favor of installing higher fidelity cameras, a hardware suite referred to as “Tesla Vision”. Since 2022, all new Teslas have come equipped with Tesla Vision, leading to the temporary disablement of the AutoPark and Summon features. This transition, and the lack of clear communication regarding the unavailability of certain features, understandably frustrated customers.
But, as of this week, Tesla has reintroduced the AutoPark feature via a software update for vehicles equipped with Tesla Vision. This revival of this feature has been met with enthusiasm from customers, who have shared their excitement on X (formerly Twitter), a sentiment that even the official Tesla account on X shared.
The above demonstration video showcases the updated AutoPark feature in action. The vehicle detects a suitable parking space, and the driver, with the use of the display, selects it for the car to autonomously park. This update signals progress with Tesla Vision, and there’s hope that Smart Summon will soon return as well. Meanwhile, we hope that Tesla will update its website to accurately reflect the current availability of Smart Summon, avoiding any misleading promotion of features that are not yet available.
