Tesla Faces US Auto Safety Investigation over Door Handles

> 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.

This is how Mercedes handles work, for what it's worth. A motor pushes them out or retracts them, but they're held in only with a spring, so you can always physically force them out, at which point pulling on them directly pulls on the release lever.

I was in a tesla for the first time ever about a month ago, for an uber ride. When I tried to exit that is the first thing that went through my mind -- how the hell could I figure out how to open the door in an emergency situation.

The original Tesla Model S had exactly this. The window-partial-retract happened as you pulled the handle. It was plenty fast, and I doubt it was even that critical to the longevity of the door — getting the window in the right position when closing always seemed more important to me.

I've got a fancy new car with fancy door handles. Overall, eh. But at least mine are intuitive on the inside ish; you can push yje handle to open (when the car thinks it's safe), or you can pull twice. You have to be told you can push to open, but pull twice happens pretty easily. I don't yet know how the fail safe open works on the outside, grab and pull (pressing the button with the grab) seems to work intuitively enough for people though.

>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.

I'm pretty sure my 2009 Prius has this feature; it will unlock the doors when I lightly touch the inside of the handle, and then pulling it will engage the door mechanism.

When I was in human computer interaction class in the 90s, one self-stated German student was fixated on how German car handles have a ring shape to help with opening car doors in emergencies.

It was kind of shocking because he was just going full zealot, in a class in Oregon United States.

The attitude was really toxic to the class. The student was trying to drum up philosophical support for all or nothing thinking, as I look back. A way to kind of circumvent a more nuanced judgment, which I think the teacher intended to convey as the whole point of the class.

And the teacher did not like it at all, and she kicked him out. It was an educational moment for me, to see clashing philosophies and power all mixed in the same adult circumstance.

> Alas, “build the best car you can” wasn’t compatible with long-term viability. Something engineering-driven companies seem to keep encountering.

Is it actually incompatible with long term viability? Or does it just create an unstable state where the temptation to gut the reputation for immediate profit grows as the size of that profit grows?

I was in a total crash of my model 3 in a hit a run. I was pitted from a crazy driver that was driving the wrong way and I ran into a retaining wall. I panicked trying to open the doors as there was smoke everywhere and I think the car was burning but the fog of an accident is pretty intense so I ended up breaking the window out with one of those little tipped seatbelt cutters and crawled out. That stupid override is completely useless when you're in fight or flight.

The Model S did it better where the override is just pulling the door handle all the way out.

There's no manual release on my model 3 for the rear passenger doors. Only front doors have it.

There also was Mitch Mcconnell's sister in law, shipping billionaire Angela Chao, who drunkenly drove into a pond on her property and couldn't get out of her Tesla. Interestingly, her own sister was the Head of the Department of Transportation when the model she died in was approved.

https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/angela-chao-death-texas-tesl...

> “The night was chilly and very dark, with no moon, so rather than walk, Chao got in her Tesla Model X SUV for the four-minute trip back to the house.

> The account of what happened to Angela Chao that weekend is based on interviews with people close to Chao and her family, county officials who were briefed on what happened or were there, as well as reviews of law-enforcement documents.

> Within minutes of saying her goodbyes, she called one of her friends in a panic. While making a three-point turn, she had put the car in reverse instead of drive, she said. It is a mistake she had made before with the Tesla gearshift. The car had zipped backward, tipping over an embankment and into a pond. It was sinking fast. Could they help her?

> Over the next several hours, her friends, then the ranch manager and his wife, and then paramedics, and firefighters and sheriff’s deputies rushed around and tried to break the windows, find an escape hatch or any way to get Chao out of the car. Somehow an executive who made her living on the sea was drowning in a stock pond within sight of her home.”

> I'm usually skeptical of negative headlines about Tesla as there have been so many false positives

I'm a bit lost in that ...

"move fast and break things." - The Experts.

I've learned to take anything said by the experts with a grain of salt nowadays, mainly after seeing the large conflicts of interest in the food and drug industry. It's best to do your own research as well if you can.

That being said, there are certain institutions and experts that I've found are more trustworthy than others (The Electronic Frontier Foundation for example) so I do usually trust them over the opinions of others. Basically there is a lot of nuance, never blindly trust anything.

Regarding the topic of the Tesla door handles, I've always felt uneasy regarding the safety of them.

You would expect to be aligned with experts? Wouldn't that make you an expert, by definition?

That is not something that I would personally admit to, but you do you.