Live data from Hacker News

Tesla owners say they've been trapped inside their EVs after they lost power

businessinsider.com

71–80 of 82 posts

Re: Tesla owners say they've been trapped inside their EVs after they lost power

#71
post #4

Why don't the door handles just open the door?

Because of the window frame. When you open the door, the window slides down slightly to clear the frame. If you force it manually, the window might break.

Other cars had frameless windows without that. Tesla as usual tries to reinvent the wheel badly

Re: Tesla owners say they've been trapped inside their EVs after they lost power

#72
post #5

I wonder why the windows broke. I assume something got installed out of order during assembly. I wonder if any other cars have such backup systems to open the doors. That part about bypassing the rear doors' child lock could be quite useful on other vehicles.

> I wonder if any other cars have such backup systems to open the doors. Many cars don't need backup because the car doesn't need power in the first place to open the doors. The ID.4 is a comparable car that does: the emergency door opening engages if you yank the lever hard twice. No need to hunt for some switch in the interior of the car.

Does that also bypass child locks on the rear doors?

I'm interested in how the yank-twice thing works mechanically.

Re: Tesla owners say they've been trapped inside their EVs after they lost power

#73
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Truly an inspired design if that is the case. Also the fact that the rear doors either do not have an emergency release or you have to lift the carpet to get to it is a marvel. Donald Norman very early in his book "The Design of Everyday Things" discusses door design in modern buildings focusing on the lack and/or ambiguity of signifiers. These vehicles solve the problem just by removing the ability to open them.

"Truly an inspired design if that is the case" - it's not the case. "Rear doors either do not have an emergency release" - you mean like every coupé ever built? Since when were you protesting coupés? Rear doors not only do not have to have manual releases, but don't even have to exist. "lack and/or ambiguity of signifiers" - the front manual release handle is not only not ambiguous, but is far more prominent than the…

Did you created this account just to post this dumbass comment ?

2-3 door cars are supposed to be left via moving the front seat. 4-5 door cars DON'T HAVE THAT FUNCTION, THAT'S WHY LACK OF EMERGENCY RELEASE ON THEM IS SO BAD.

Re: Tesla owners say they've been trapped inside their EVs after they lost power

#74

Video of the handles in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu-tJc-BgaI Both functions are not evident (to me) by looking at the handles. Maybe the Tesla's UI is just bad.

Car UI in general is just all over the place. Every car manufacture does its own thing, from door handles to AC control.

A small lever that pulls horizontally inwards, from front to back, is almost standardized for the inside door handle. Front doors usually have an interconnect that opens the lock also.

For electronic windows, on newer cars it's nearly standard that the switch can be engages by pushing down or pulling up.

Re: Tesla owners say they've been trapped inside their EVs after they lost power

#75

Claim: it is difficult to find the manual release handle for the doors My reality: every single passenger who had never been on a Tesla before always uses the manual release handle instead of the right button, and I get a warning message on the screen and the risk of breaking the window glass. Source: Tesla M3 owner

> every single passenger who had never been on a Tesla before always uses the manual release handle instead of the right button

That sounds like a nice anti-pattern design. Be different for sake of being different.

Re: Tesla owners say they've been trapped inside their EVs after they lost power

#76
post #24
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The windows have no frame. They slide up into the body of the car. If the door opens, the car needs to roll the window down a bit, then open the door. Without power, none of that happens. And if you use the emergency switch, the window showers you in shattered glass. Quite an elegant system.

I wonder how well that works in the winter when it's really cold? Obviously, not very well.

My BMW Z4 had the same design. I'd go out in the morning and the door wouldn't open if ice had formed at the top of the window. I'd have to hold my hands on the ice and melt it until it was weak enough to scrape off.

It wasn't fun, but I did love that car.

Re: Tesla owners say they've been trapped inside their EVs after they lost power

#77
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because of the window frame. When you open the door, the window slides down slightly to clear the frame. If you force it manually, the window might break.

Other cars had frameless windows without that. Tesla as usual tries to reinvent the wheel badly

In 2010, I bought a car with the same Tesla frameless system, but I guess it was even a bit dumber :)

Re: Tesla owners say they've been trapped inside their EVs after they lost power

#78
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sample size: Very few Type of evidence: Anecdotal Statistical relevance: Tiny

Type of evidence: first hand account. That's better. The singular of data is not anecdote. People make this "mistake" in order to dismiss or minimize someone's experience.

I find people are much more likely to over key on their first-hand accounts than to rightly consider how small their sample-size is.

So in terms of common "mistakes" I see, I think yours is the larger. "First hand accounts" are never unbiased, and are rarely well-collected data. I'm not saying I don't believe OP here, I think this is probably the exception to the rule, but I think you're just wrong.

The plural of anecdote isn't data, because it hasn't been collected in any meaningfully standardizable way.

Edit: If you need evidence this is clearly an anecdote:

> every single passenger who had never been on a Tesla before always uses the manual release handle instead of the right button, and I get a warning message on the screen and the risk of breaking the window glass.

OP is probably assuming that everyone who gets it correct has been in a Tesla before. But given the 2 options and how close they are together, I'd be pretty surprised if no one had gotten this correct on their first try. One of the buttons is much more visible than the other. So either OP's sample size is small enough to be uninteresting, or hyperbole. Either way, it's not data, and it's wrong to treat it as such.

What it does tell us, is that this probably isn't a problem for everyone but that hardly matters to the people who can't figure out how to get out of a Model 3 right now.

Re: Tesla owners say they've been trapped inside their EVs after they lost power

#79

Claim: it is difficult to find the manual release handle for the doors My reality: every single passenger who had never been on a Tesla before always uses the manual release handle instead of the right button, and I get a warning message on the screen and the risk of breaking the window glass. Source: Tesla M3 owner

>uses the manual release handle instead of the right button, and I get a warning message on the screen and the risk of breaking the window glass. Is there a technical limitation on why the manual release can't also mechanically slide down the window slightly when pulled to not damage the glass? Also, why did Tesla need to use two obscure looking buttons with no labels on them to open the door[1], when many cars use t…

Most cars have a window frame and don’t need to worry about lowering the window. There are plenty of other cars that engage the window down on the lever though, so no, it’s not a technical issue. The only issue I can think of if you just open and push the door quickly then it could cause damage and the Tesla can lower the window before it opens when you use the button option.

Re: Tesla owners say they've been trapped inside their EVs after they lost power

#80
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sample size: Very few Type of evidence: Anecdotal Statistical relevance: Tiny

Type of evidence: first hand account. That's better. The singular of data is not anecdote. People make this "mistake" in order to dismiss or minimize someone's experience.

Data collection method: journalist seeking out personal anecdotes that match the story they want to tell.
Post reply on HN