Guy on phone videotaped his Tesla catching fire for no reason. He had to break a window to get out because all the electrical doors locked.
https://imgur.com/gallery/Fk1vCCT
“A spontaneous Viking funeral”
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Not exactly a failsafe setup on the doors…
DOT should force Tesla to ReCall 'em all and add escape latches… Not everyone is able to make that escape, passengers, kids…
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“A spontaneous Viking funeral”
Na, it's just a bug in the software... or a feature. Depends on how it's viewed.
A reboot should fix this problem, right?
[ww.sometechjustSHOULDNOTBE.pl/incars.now.isoneofthem/](http://ww.sometechjustSHOULDNOTBE.pl/incars.now.isoneofthem/)Does anyone REALLY think Tesla hasn’t pondered the ability to get out of a Tesla in a situation in which the car’s electronics are shut down?
Really?
I Googled.,. tesla door escape handle and found this youtu.be from 4 years ago.
How To Open A Tesla’s Doors In An Emergency
https://youtu.be/01lXcD_Uz74
Note the guy says he made the video cause he gets asked that question a lot. He’d apparently answered that question for some time BEFORE making the YouTube.
FOUR years ago, he made a youtube “how to”.
The escape artist who had to break the window, didn’t know his emergency tools.
Now… let me pose a question to the reader.
Do YOU know how to escape your (? Car, home, a restaurant, theater, etc) in an emergency?
Are all your kids amd other dependents capable of the same escape methods?
I have a RAV4… I do NOT have a window breaking tool for use just in case I drive into a lake somewhere.
(Oh… and its a HYBRID… see * below.)
I see lots of “you must practice x”… but, mostly it’s accompanied by “eye rolls” by the target users.
IMO, of course.
ralph owns TSLA stock.
There’s a lot Tesla FUD. Just cause it’s “TESLA!!!” It’s SENSATIONAL and the mental imagery of a car on fire, and a dramatized “had to break the window to escape” is LURID.
- If you are interested in cars catch fire DATA… check out this post: HYBRID are the worst!
https://discussion.fool.com/car-fire-data-35041163.aspx?sort=use…
ralph has PTSD from all the sensationalized headlines. EVERYTHING (not just Tesla) is a crisis!
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Here’s another “vehicle fire”.
Deputy’s Taser Sparks Fire During Arrest at Gas Pump
https://youtu.be/FfXHKHrQUHo
ralph
I Googled.,. tesla door escape handle and found this youtu.be from 4 years ago.
Did you WATCH the video? Front doors on the S or X appear to be reasonable. Apparently, you pull on a traditional looking latch to trigger the electric release. Just pull that further for the manual release.
Rear door on the S is bad. You have to move a flap in the carpet under the seat, then find a tab behind that flap and pull on it to pop the door. When sitting in the seat, that flap is out of sight - basically between your legs.
Rear door on the X is worse. First, you go to the most obvious place - the speaker. Remove the speaker grill, then pull on a tab there. Of course, without the electric motor, that gull wing door is really heavy.
Then there’s the model 3. Front door is again reasonable, but you need to know where the manual latch is. Just forward of the window switches. There’s an unmarked panel there you lift up. As to the rear doors - the guy in the video didn’t know. I’m sure Mr. Google can tell me. Let’s look.
How about the Tesla owner’s manual? https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_jo/GUID-7A32EC0… Too bad rear seat occupants. In case of an emergency, bend over and kiss your rear goodbye. No manual release for you. If you’re young and healthy, I suppose you can try kicking out the windows - as demonstrated in the video at the top of the thread.
Model Y? Since it’s based on the 3, my guess is that they share manual processes. I’ll let someone else find the appropriate owner’s manual to confirm.
Do YOU know how to escape your (? Car, home, a restaurant, theater, etc) in an emergency?
Yes. Because the most common methods of escape are to use the same doors you always use. Doors that will operate in the same way because they don’t rely on electric releases. My house has 5 doors I can choose from. And windows slide open in an emergency. Just like they slide open for ordinary use.
My car has 4 doors. They all operate the same way for both ordinary and emergency use.
And that’s the point here. I was pretty sure that Tesla would have created some manual backups for their electronic latches. But other than the front doors in the S and X, the manual backup is not obvious or intuitive. That’s a problem in an emergency. When your car is on fire and you need to get out, you don’t have time to hunt through your electronic owner’s manual (which probably won’t work anyway because, you know, no power). You need to know intuitively how to open the door. And most of the manual latches in Teslas are neither obvious nor intuitive. Especially in the back, they’re in places you don’t expect and don’t see in the ordinary use of the car.
–Peter
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Peter asks Did you WATCH the video?
Why, yes, Peter, I did! 
Which is why I saw the part where the author reveals that the MECHANICAL process is merely pulling the “normal” electronically assisted handle a little further.
And, I agree that the rear seat escape “tab” hidden behind a piece of carpet is … a lawsuit waiting to happen?
The guy in the news story apparently DIDN’T know the emergency tools.
And the claim that he HAD to break the window… brings a LURID visual to mind.
It’s click bait.
I suspect that 90% of Tesla owners (and of all other makes and models, TOO!) just get in the car and drive away.
Perhaps Tesla should require a mandatory “simulator” training for anyone who buys a Tesla?
ralph
Perhaps Tesla should require a mandatory “simulator” training for anyone who buys a Tesla?
Sounds like the Boeing 737MAX... it's not a car, but it does need a new license and more "training" on how to fly it, even if you're qualified to fly a 737. We all know about this...
Tesla is heading in the wrong direction, if you want to drive it. However, if/when autonomous vehicles are "a thing", this may be the best option.
[ww.gettingold.mightneedtousethis.pl](http://ww.gettingold.mightneedtousethis.pl)
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These new techs vehicles are making all the DMV testing for drivers obsolete… Or they need to trim back all the gadgetry and concentrate on drivability, killing off the distractions… Maybe some better fusing, fire safety since there is a lot of energy, tucked away and not being shown the respect it needs…
Which is why I saw the part where the author reveals that the MECHANICAL process is merely pulling the “normal” electronically assisted handle a little further.
But that’s only in a Model S or a Model X. The man in the video was driving a Model 3, which works differently. And less obviously. Much less.
–Peter
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“My car is on fire. I’m about to die let me watch this YouTube video….dang, no bars.”
Of course we’re not addressing the bigger issue of cars spontaneously catching fire.
When it’s charging in your garage, for example: would hate my car to burn down my house.
https://www.motorbiscuit.com/tesla-burst-flames-charging-spr…
I remember one video of a mom driving down the highway didn’t even know her car was on fire. Other cars honking like “pull over!”
Here’s a list of some https://www.tesla-fire.com/
But yeah, door handles should be manual. Basic safety 101.
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LOLOLOLOL
1:40 to about 1:50 on the video seems to answer the Model 3 question?
I’m not at all surprised that we USians as a society are so easily manipulated via sensationalized “news”.
ralph
1:40 to about 1:50 on the video seems to answer the Model 3 question?
Yes, it does. I watched the video. And I included the info in my very first reply on this thread.
But now you are contradicting yourself. Earlier, you said that you just pull on the handle a bit further.
Details matter.
–Peter
PS - especially when your car is on fire
PPS - I occasionally drive my brother’s Model 3 when he takes my son and my car out for an afternoon. I will definitely take a closer look at this the next time I get a chance.
PPPS - I really do like Teslas. But they are not perfect, much to the chagrin of Tesla fanbois.
PPPPS - Was Ralph Nader sensationalizing news when he published his book Unsafe at Any Speed, pointing out the safety problems of the cars of his day?
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Oh good grief!
Details DO indeed matter.
The detail you keep avoiding is that the guy in the car-on-fire DID NOT know his emergency exit tools. No matter which model he drives.
That knowledge has been public for more than 4 years.
Tesla fanbois are absurd, but so are the Tesla haters - the POV fed by sensationalized “news”.
I, too “like” Teslas., but, will I own one?
IDK.
Maybe. As you say, Teslas are not perfect.
I really like better the robotaxi concept.
ralph
The detail you keep avoiding is that the guy in the car-on-fire DID NOT know his emergency exit tools.
Because pretty much every other mass market** car out there doesn’t need to know about emergency exit tools specific to the car. Pull the handle and the door opens. With or without electric power available.
What you’re doing here is blaming the user for bad design. I am of the opinion that doors which require some alternative way of opening if the power fails in the car is bad design.
–Peter
**I do know some exotics - perhaps Lambo or Ferrari or some such - have strange ways of opening their doors. But those cars are mainly bought by gear heads who will take the time to learn every strange bit about their cars. This is in contrast to an average driver who gets into their car and drives, knowing little of the details. I should probably limit this to the US as well, since I’m not well versed in cars sold outside of the US.
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What you’re doing here is blaming the user for bad design.
I agree that the design is not very good. But when I took delivery of my Model 3 (~4 years ago) this was one of three or four things that I was shown on a checklist the delivery guy did before asking me if I had any questions.
Also, I should note a couple of things. First, about half of people I’ve given a ride to that have never been in a Tesla instinctively pull up on the emergency handle to get out the first time.
Second, how to get “in” the car isn’t real obvious either. You have to push in on the wide part of the handle, then grab the portion that pops out.
Guess what? Even Tesla knows this is an issue because in Las Vegas where they give free Tesla rides in the tunnel between convention centers they have put large stickers on the doors showing you what to do to get in.
Mike
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Not everyone driving a Tesla OWNS a Tesla. Hertz is making a BIG deal about the fact that they rent these puppies. Have you not seen all the weird commercials?
You’re really expecting someone renting a car for a few days to dig this deep? Half the time I’ve rented a car I’m given a key and they point to a parking lot. Or a bus stop going to the parking lot. Bye good luck.
Ptheland is right. Mike is right. There’s a reason emergency doors alway open from the inside.
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Not everyone driving a Tesla OWNS a Tesla
And not all passengers in a Tesla owns a Tesla.
Or is the onus on them as well?
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