Tesla cars 'will be able to drive entire countries alone to meet owners'

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk says that in two years' time, his cars will be able to drive autonomously across countries to collect their owners.

Unveiling the new "Summon" feature, which allows drivers to call their cars via a smartphone app and have it drive to meet them, within a three-mile radius, the electric car company said: "Eventually, your Tesla will be able to drive anywhere across the country to meet you, charging itself along the way."

Writing on Twitter, Musk said: "In 2 years, summon should work anywhere connected by land & not blocked by borders, e.g. you're in LA and the car is in NY."

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He added that the current - and first - release of the system is the "first baby steps," says Auto Express.

The news came as Musk revealed the latest updates for the Tesla Model S and Model X, which include changes and upgrades to the Autopilot function, as well as the Summon feature.

The cars can now park themselves without driver intervention, with the power to open the garage door, drive inside, park and then switch off at the touch of a button.

The upgrade has also introduced restrictions on Autopilot's use in residential areas and on roads without a central divider after video appeared to show drivers using the automated steering recklessly, while new software caps the driving speed to the limit of the road rather than relying on the cruise control settings issued by the driver.

The Autosteer function has also been improved to work better on roads where markings have faded and is smoother, making it "probably better than humans at highway driving", according to Musk.

But it is Summon which is gathering all the attention. Jalopnik reports that plans to expand its current range to one which could see cars make journeys across entire countries to meet their owners is something Musk himself is optimistic about and that cars capable of doing it may need extra hardware. They also add that Tesla is planning to make a production version of its autonomous charging system, which they called a "creepy robot snake".

However, Carlos Ghosn, chairman and chief executive of the Renault-Nissan group, doubted the claims, saying in an interview with [3] Autocar that "true autonomy is much farther away" than Musk and Tesla make out.