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Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

cnbc.com

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Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#51

Post by clouddrover »

iamtheworstdev wrote: post #47
pengaru wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently pulled over to help a Model S driver with a flat. Every doorhandle on the car had a thin zip-tie looped under it because the "present" mechanisms no longer functioned. One had to tug the zip tie to manually force the handle out of its flush position before being able to grasp it. Quality. The poor guy was stuck in the summer desert heat, waiting for a tow with a flat in a ~5000lb luxury sedan too heavy to…

Not defending Tesla here - but most manufacturers no longer include full size spares and many don't even include donuts anymore. The former is reportedly because of weight savings which contributes to fuel savings for their federal requirements. The latter is because donuts were never maintained by owners so they never worked when needed (ie, already deflated or aged beyond safe).

And some cars are designed to use run flat tyres which you can drive on for about 80 km after a puncture:

https://www.bridgestonetire.com/tread-and-trend/drivers-ed/r...

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#52

Post by djanogo »

iamtheworstdev wrote: post #47
pengaru wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently pulled over to help a Model S driver with a flat. Every doorhandle on the car had a thin zip-tie looped under it because the "present" mechanisms no longer functioned. One had to tug the zip tie to manually force the handle out of its flush position before being able to grasp it. Quality. The poor guy was stuck in the summer desert heat, waiting for a tow with a flat in a ~5000lb luxury sedan too heavy to…

Not defending Tesla here - but most manufacturers no longer include full size spares and many don't even include donuts anymore. The former is reportedly because of weight savings which contributes to fuel savings for their federal requirements. The latter is because donuts were never maintained by owners so they never worked when needed (ie, already deflated or aged beyond safe).

Toyota includes spare in most of the vehicles they sell.

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#53

Post by failwhaleshark »

Telsa, yes, I wave the EV flag and kill-off the ICEs... pour one out for the Saturn EV1 homies that GM embraced, extended, extinguished.

1. The shuttlecraft giant screen in the middle is a distraction crash waiting to happen, and it's very difficult for older people to use.

2. Safety, simple, mechanical > clever over-engineering.

3. Why aren't regulators reviewing and approving firmware updates? For example, if Tesla management decides to brick all cars or an engineer is bribed to hack a particular Tesla to crash.

4. Why are moving vehicles being "live patched" over SSH? This seems insane like "I don't always test my code, but when I do so, I do it in production."

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#54

Post by rasz »

pilingual wrote: post #12
stretchwithme wrote: post #5

I'm not sure I'd buy a car without a single mechanical interior door handle. Sure, there might be a mechanical backup to the electronic door handle. But will I remember to use it in an emergency?

This is a human factors oversight. The emergency handle and button to open the door should be combined. When you put pressure on the button the door opens electronically. Putting a lot of pressure -- as when panicking -- should result in the mechanical lever unlatching the door.

Thats how it works in Maserati Quattroporte, both electronic and mechanical actuators are integrated.

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#55

Post by rasz »

pengaru wrote: post #44
stretchwithme wrote: post #5

I'm not sure I'd buy a car without a single mechanical interior door handle. Sure, there might be a mechanical backup to the electronic door handle. But will I remember to use it in an emergency?

I recently pulled over to help a Model S driver with a flat. Every doorhandle on the car had a thin zip-tie looped under it because the "present" mechanisms no longer functioned. One had to tug the zip tie to manually force the handle out of its flush position before being able to grasp it. Quality. The poor guy was stuck in the summer desert heat, waiting for a tow with a flat in a ~5000lb luxury sedan too heavy to…

This is Tesla normalcy, those door handles have potential of totaling the car due to "excellent" Tesla service and parts availability.

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#56

Post by freeone3000 »

userbinator wrote: post #41
freeone3000 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 2020 Dodge Challenger had the same problem due to a similar door design. They solved it by causing the mechanical action of the door open lever to also roll down the window slightly, and electronically rolled up the window when the door was closed.

That sounds like an example of overengineering/making things more complex for little gain.

The easy solution that literally every other car uses is to have a piece of frame on top of the window as a part of the door. But that doesn't have the same aesthetic!

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#57

Post by rcMgD2BwE72F »

paxys wrote: post #40
Natsu wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For whatever reason, speculation is pretty rampant whenever it comes to Tesla accidents. That, and we seem to hear about every single Tesla that gets into an accident in detail, whereas with other cars there's just a brief blurb during the news about how another 10 car pile-up blocked the freeway for an hour. So I wonder at this point which PR firm is making sure that every single Tesla accident makes the news?

It's not a conspiracy. Tesla is among the most watched and followed companies in the world. A large number of people have huge positions on its stock, both long and short. Its CEO is one of the richest and possibly the most divisive businessman/celebrity in the world. All news related to it – both positive and negative – is greatly amplified.

Shorts must have the stock go down at a certain time. Longs don't. So shorts are far more incentivized to promote fake news every now and then (or they get margin-called).

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#58

Post by calyth2018 »

stretchwithme wrote: post #5

I'm not sure I'd buy a car without a single mechanical interior door handle. Sure, there might be a mechanical backup to the electronic door handle. But will I remember to use it in an emergency?

Go to a tool store and find yourself a spring loaded center punch.

Something like this: https://www.homedepot.ca/product/dynamic-tools-automatic-cen...

It should get through the tempered glass at the doors.

You can also get an automobile specific glass hammer with seat belt cutter.

But yeah, complete lack of mechanical door release is insane.

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#59

Post by jwalton »

pilingual wrote: post #12
stretchwithme wrote: post #5

I'm not sure I'd buy a car without a single mechanical interior door handle. Sure, there might be a mechanical backup to the electronic door handle. But will I remember to use it in an emergency?

This is a human factors oversight. The emergency handle and button to open the door should be combined. When you put pressure on the button the door opens electronically. Putting a lot of pressure -- as when panicking -- should result in the mechanical lever unlatching the door.

At that point, why would you not just have a mechanical latch? What’s the point of the button?

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#60

Post by sss111 »

mr_toad wrote: post #50
iamtheworstdev wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not defending Tesla here - but most manufacturers no longer include full size spares and many don't even include donuts anymore. The former is reportedly because of weight savings which contributes to fuel savings for their federal requirements. The latter is because donuts were never maintained by owners so they never worked when needed (ie, already deflated or aged beyond safe).

In NZ you’ll fail your warrant if you don’t have a functional spare tire.

What's a warrant in NZ, is it like a car fitness check?
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