Exactly. You CAN make an exterior handle flat flush but manually operated — so the next step would be to make it mechanically linked. They can do it.
I mean, for a lifetime we’ve had cars with automatic power locks that failsafe to manual. That should just be a legal mandate.
I’ve Ubered in a couple of Teslas and was a bit taken aback at how cheap the interior seemed. The sort of stuff that looks okay in a photo but you start looking closely and see all sorts of gaps and seams. I feel like if I’m trapped in one I could just start popping off panels and seats and fittings until I find a way out.
He’s mistaken. As you said, pretty much everyone who doesn’t know about the push button intuitively opens it the “wrong” way. The only difference is that it doesn’t lower the window a smidge before you open the door. It certainly won’t break the window but after many times opening it that way it could hurt the seal.
What is people’s problem? It is super intuitive. As the car fills with smoke, pull up on the rubber liner of the door pocket. Once you’ve removed that you should see a little access hole with a cable in it. Get the needle nose pliers out of your pocket (a multitool like a Leatherman will also work) and pull on the cable. That will release the door. Practice this a few times with your eyes closed and holding your breath.
Seriously, anyone who complains about interior front door release on Teslas is just engaging in Musk hate (which he of course deserves). You may dislike the standard choice of a push button on the 3 and Y, but that is just a style disagreement. The mechanical release is easy to use. The S and X have regular door handles like any other car. The rear door setup is unconscionable, though.
It’s not cheap, it’s minimalist! Most of the switch gear actually comes from Mercedes. I assume having to smack the interior B-pillar trim back into place is a standard monthly maintenance item on all cars.
Poe’s Law strikes again.
Hey, in the top part I started a new paragraph before switching tone, and in the last part I at least separated the real statement and sarcasm into different sentences.
I have an ancient Ranger, I’ll roll the windows open with the crank.
If they are going to have cool stuff like that to make people want to buy the car, I’d design the doors to open in the event of battery current loss. Hold them locked with voltage, so they will open if the power fails.
I didn’t know if the window punches worked with only my 110 lbs behind it. I take it they do; I’ll buy a couple. My Wife’s KIA has several things that make me wonder how do deal with a loss of voltage. I do know a failing battery gives a dashboard signal that the “electrical power steering”, (whatever that is) has failed. I can’t help but think that is intentional, so I’ll go to the dealer for repairs instead of to Advanced Auto Parts for a battery.
Like I said, get a spring-loaded one. I’ve popped windows with one hand
Thanks again.
Many modern cars don’t have hydraulic power steering. That’s now seen as old-fashioned failure prone tech.
Instead the power steering system is electrical from end to end. Sensors detect the steering wheel effort and electric motors assist in moving the steering rack to steer the front wheels to match the sensed effort.
So they fail not from fluid leakage, but a failing battery. = )
Well, not “fail” exactly. When a hydraulic system leaks, you need new hoses, new fluid, and may have destroyed the pump. Lots to repair.
When the power fails to any electrical device it ceases to operate. But generally it’s undamaged and will work perfectly well immediately when power is restored. There is nothing to repair.
Now why the electrical power went out, and what that means in the case of a car is something else again. Any electrical supply problems in a running car with a failing battery suggest alternator and/or voltage regulator problems too.
I’m not necessarily defending the choice of car makers to embrace ever more electronics over mechanicals. But I am trying to explain what it is.
Bear in mind, most current electric steering systems are electric augmentation of a mechanically linked steering system, not significantly different than hydraulic power steering systems. If the augmentation power fails, you still have a mechanical linkage from steering wheel to steering rack, but with no powered help. Heavy, but controllable.
I have no idea what kind of backup pure-play steer-by-wire systems have.
Good point. I should have made that explicit.
“Power steering” going back to the 1960s is really “power-assisted mechanical steering”. And still is today with very, very few exceptions. Regardless of whether the assistive effort is delivered electrically or hydraulically.
Decent recent article on fully electric / electronic steering without mechanical backup:
Short version: It’s coming soon to many fancy cars near you.