There's really no way to get into the vehicle from the outside if the battery is dead? I find that hard to believe...
...okay, looks like there is a way but it's really convoluted and you need to basically jump-start the low voltage system (using either an ICE car or a battery pack). https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-3567D5F... That's really, really dumb.
Remember to have all your passengers read your car manual before riding with you, so they know how to manually open the door when you wreck and catch fire.
Apparently there is a manual release lever, which this driver did not know about. But really, I think it's a bad design to have to think about a second way to open the door. When people panic, they fall back to training, and that training is just opening the door using the handle they always use.
Retractable flush door handles without an obvious, usable, and effective manual override option are one of the most stupid and user hostile "innovations" ever.
Designers effectively said: "Lets save 0.03 on our Coefficient of Drag, add unnecessary weight of extra motors and control complexity, and make sure whenever the 12V supply is cut or a bit of ice is in the mechanism, everyone inside is trapped —— it'll look cool".
China is already looking at banning them [0] because of the difficulty they present to emergency crews trying to rescue passengers.
And while I used to admire Musk and defend him here, this now seems like just another "innovation" by a sociopath who cares only about how cool it might make him look, and nevermind the people burned to death trapped inside his cars. At least the Ford Pinto exploding gas tank debacle was for profit [1], this is just one man's ego.
I've had a Tesla for several years and am generally pretty happy with it.
I don't think the fancy electronic door handles are an improvement, and am unhappy to see that other brands are following suit.
If there are electronic processes that you want to trigger as the door opens, I think the better solution would be a two-stage handle that initially sends an electrical signal and then engages the mechanical latch if you continue pulling.
From just a convenience perspective having to explain both the interior and exterior doorhandles to anyone riding in your car is a pain, but in the case of an accident, being submerged in water, driver incapacitation, or any other reason you need to exit the car, there should be zero ambiguity of how to do so even if the car has lost power.
Obvious, intuitive, failsafe handles on the inside and outside of car doors should be industry standard.
> To open a rear door in the unlikely situation when Model S has no power, fold back the edge of the carpet below the rear seats to expose the mechanical release cable. Pull the mechanical release cable toward the center of the vehicle.
I have mentioned this to my family but I don't think there's any way my kids could operate these manual releases on their own, and certainly not in the heat of the moment.
It gives me chills to imagine the consequences of this for my family in an accident.
I'm usually skeptical of negative headlines about Tesla as there have been so many false positives, but this one is absolutely nuts. That design seems appropriate for a piece of industrial equipment that requires training to operate, not a passenger vehicle that people just jump into without any familiarity. I'm pretty sure I would die before figuring out how to open that back door in an emergency.
Back in the glory days of Mercedes, they proudly advertised how their pull-style door handles were a safety feature intended to make it easier for rescuers to open doors from the outside: http://oudemercedesbrochures.nl/Images/W126/USA_1990/016.jpg
Alas, “build the best car you can” wasn’t compatible with long-term viability. Something engineering-driven companies seem to keep encountering.
As a new Tesla model Y owner I'm very happy with the car.
But I agree that this is madness!
I'm not too concerned with opening from the outside, but opening from the inside has to be a simple thing that works in all situations, even for first time passengers!
I actually got stuck in my parent's Tesla with them in the car on a really hot day. The car battery died and so we were stuck in the car because it was bricked. I understand there are mechanical latches to open the doors in that case, but I didn't know that at the time. In the heat of the moment and the panic, it was really hard to figure that out. We ended up contacting Tesla service, but I can imagine it would have been even more terrifying and risky if we were outside cell service. It's just poor design.
For me the safety factor easily outweighs anything else. Give me mechanical door handles, please. I was bummed to hear the new leaf was going this way.
20 comments
[ 2.6 ms ] story [ 38.7 ms ] thread...okay, looks like there is a way but it's really convoluted and you need to basically jump-start the low voltage system (using either an ICE car or a battery pack). https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-3567D5F... That's really, really dumb.
Insanity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQxm6n7SdvE
Apparently there is a manual release lever, which this driver did not know about. But really, I think it's a bad design to have to think about a second way to open the door. When people panic, they fall back to training, and that training is just opening the door using the handle they always use.
Designers effectively said: "Lets save 0.03 on our Coefficient of Drag, add unnecessary weight of extra motors and control complexity, and make sure whenever the 12V supply is cut or a bit of ice is in the mechanism, everyone inside is trapped —— it'll look cool".
China is already looking at banning them [0] because of the difficulty they present to emergency crews trying to rescue passengers.
And while I used to admire Musk and defend him here, this now seems like just another "innovation" by a sociopath who cares only about how cool it might make him look, and nevermind the people burned to death trapped inside his cars. At least the Ford Pinto exploding gas tank debacle was for profit [1], this is just one man's ego.
[0] https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a66052483/china-possible-b...
[1] https://www.autosafety.org/ford-pinto-fuel-tank/
I don't think the fancy electronic door handles are an improvement, and am unhappy to see that other brands are following suit.
If there are electronic processes that you want to trigger as the door opens, I think the better solution would be a two-stage handle that initially sends an electrical signal and then engages the mechanical latch if you continue pulling.
From just a convenience perspective having to explain both the interior and exterior doorhandles to anyone riding in your car is a pain, but in the case of an accident, being submerged in water, driver incapacitation, or any other reason you need to exit the car, there should be zero ambiguity of how to do so even if the car has lost power.
Obvious, intuitive, failsafe handles on the inside and outside of car doors should be industry standard.
https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/2012_2020_models/en_ie/GU...
> To open a rear door in the unlikely situation when Model S has no power, fold back the edge of the carpet below the rear seats to expose the mechanical release cable. Pull the mechanical release cable toward the center of the vehicle.
I have mentioned this to my family but I don't think there's any way my kids could operate these manual releases on their own, and certainly not in the heat of the moment.
It gives me chills to imagine the consequences of this for my family in an accident.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Yelchin#Lawsuit_and_reca...
Alas, “build the best car you can” wasn’t compatible with long-term viability. Something engineering-driven companies seem to keep encountering.
The whole brochure is an neat time capsule to browse through: http://oudemercedesbrochures.nl/W126_USA1990.html
But I agree that this is madness!
I'm not too concerned with opening from the outside, but opening from the inside has to be a simple thing that works in all situations, even for first time passengers!
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-tesla-dangerous-door...
Unpaywalled: https://archive.ph/QCuQJ
Screenshots of instructions: https://imgur.com/a/96ckdjv