--- title: "Tesla Software Update Traps Owner’s Car in Narrow Alleyway" description: "A Tesla owner's vehicle got stuck in a tight alleyway after a firmware update bricked his vehicle's \"Summon\" feature." date: "2024-11-04" modified: "2024-11-04" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-software-update-traps-car-narrow-alleyway" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Tesla" tags: - "Self-driving cars" - "smart summon" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Tesla Software Update Traps Owner’s Car in Narrow Alleyway ![A Tesla owner's vehicle got stuck in a tight alleyway after a firmware update bricked his vehicle's "Summon" feature.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Tight Fit A Tesla owner in Nova Scotia, Canada made an unfortunate discovery after his vehicle received an over-the-air software update. As [*Electrek* reports](), the vehicle became stuck in the tight alleyway between his house and his neighbor's. That's because a new firmware update broke Tesla's "Summon" feature, which previously allowed the owner, identified as Jamie, to move his car in and out of the tight spot remotely. When he tries to use the function now, it just cycles through error messages, he told *Electrek*, such as "cannot find clear path to pin," or "stopped due to unexpected error." The incident goes to show how the EV maker's frequent updates don't just enhance the experience — but also brick certain functionalities entirely, an unfortunate reality that can result in owners being locked out or more generally losing control of what goes on with their vehicle. ## Dumb Summon The news comes a month after Tesla [unexpectedly released]() an update of the "Summon" feature called "Actually Smart Summon." Despite its name, the driver assistance feature, which is limited to private property such as parking lots or long driveways, is still pretty flawed. Case in point, last week a driverless Tesla [crashed into a woman's car]() in a mall parking lot, and even "kept going after impact." In 2022, Tesla CEO Elon Musk [announced]() that Tesla's self-driving efforts will rely exclusively on camera sensors instead of LiDAR and radar like its competitors, which he [has long derided]() as a "crutch." As *Electrek* points out, a "smart" version of the Summon feature disappeared once the carmaker removed radar sensors from vehicles, but returned with the rollout of Actually Smart Summon earlier this year. But judging by Jamie's experience with what Tesla is now [calling the "Dumb" version](), the carmaker has a lot more bugs to iron out, especially given Musk's plans of [launching an autonomous ridehailing service](). That's not to mention Tesla's [well-documented shortcomings when it comes to customer service](). Jamie had to resort to crawling through his vehicle's trunk to drive it to a nearby service center. While staff at the center were able to recreate the problem by stacking boxes next to the car, they were unable to offer him a software rollback — let alone a timeline for a fix. **More on Summon:** *[Woman Annoyed When Tesla With No Driver Suddenly Smashes Into Her Car]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()