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Tesla is looking to redesign its door handles following trapped-passenger report

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Re: Tesla is looking to redesign its door handles following trapped-passenger report

#101
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The funny thing is that Elon has been very critical of regulation in car design, such as the rules around the side-view mirrors (he wanted to get rid of them and replace with cameras). But then they find something unregulated and manage to flub it so badly it makes a strong case for regulation. I'm not sure if Elon was involved in these door handles on the interior, though I do recall he was very involved in the earl…

I always found what we regulate and don't regulate when it comes to motor vehicles interesting... Demanding Tesla's need door handle regulation because of safety concerns lacks perspective given how relatively safe Teslas are, and that current regulation allows people to buy vehicles which go 60MPH+ on just two wheels, no airbags, and no doors at all. It would be cool if Tesla can come up with something a bit safer i…

> current regulation allows people to buy vehicles which go 60MPH+ on just two wheels, no airbags, and no doors at all

Are you talking about motorcycles?? Yeah nobody thinks motorcycles are safe. But the issues with them are inherent to the form, not created by the design.

To be clear, i also think motorcycles should be regulated better. The tiny signal lights on a honda cbr are obviously a creation of valuing design over safety.

> Just let manufacturers innovate...

We did. They innovated door handles that depend on the car electronics functioning, headlights that blind other drivers, and monthly subscriptions to unlock heated seats.

Re: Tesla is looking to redesign its door handles following trapped-passenger report

#102

This is a failure of regulation. Companies come and go. The idea is that we have simple, efficient, long lasting gov orgs that can make sure each new company doesn’t repeat moronic mistakes like this in the name of design.

This isn't a failure of regulation. It's a failure of engineering culture. It's an industry fad or circle jerk, same as any other. Blaming "but the law didn't say I couldn't do this" fails to properly ascribe blame and serves to excuse the peddlers of bad culture. The Telsa handle and copycats are figment of stupid engineering circle jerk culture allowed to run unrestrained. These people are disposed to do all sorts…

It can be both. That the engineers have bad culture means they suggest a moronic idea. That the regulators have been neutered means nobody stopped them.

That nobody stopped them means they got away with it, which means no motivation to change culture. And the circle jerk goes ‘round and round.

Re: Tesla is looking to redesign its door handles following trapped-passenger report

#103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On every other car, you can open the rear door by just using the door handle. No need to remove a panel so you can pull a yellow cable to release a latch so you can open the door.

Can it drive itself?

I mean a lot of them can. But those design features are completely orthogonal. Nothing about "self driving" requires stupid and unsafe door handle design. Tesla has clearly fallen into the trap of thinking that making something futuristic requires changing even the things that work just fine and don't require futurifying instead of realizing that the best future improves the things that could work better while leaving other things alone.

Re: Tesla is looking to redesign its door handles following trapped-passenger report

#104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On every other car, you can open the rear door by just using the door handle. No need to remove a panel so you can pull a yellow cable to release a latch so you can open the door.

Can it drive itself?

Many of these cars can drive themselves better than Teslas can.

My Subaru may not be able to change lanes but it also won't run straight into a truck, police car, ambulance, tree, or wall like a Tesla will.

Re: Tesla is looking to redesign its door handles following trapped-passenger report

#105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, they put a sign on the trash can that says “this is in fact on fire” so you know that they’re aware it’s a dumpster fire.

There’s 5 to 10 unique things about Tesla, esp at that price point. But yes let’s focus on door handles and how they behave in an edge case of an edge case.

The first edge case is a collision. What's the second?

Re: Tesla is looking to redesign its door handles following trapped-passenger report

#106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because you don't need to use that shifter regularly; you shift gears on the screen in that car and they have capacitive buttons near the caution lights on the ceiling as a redundant backup.

> you shift gears on the screen in that car You're not helping bro. I'm literally crying right now what even is this car?

Musk has stated in various ways on different occasions that all driver input is error.

When that frames how you imagine drivers of your vehicles interfacing with them, all sorts of stupid shit starts looking like a good idea.

Re: Tesla is looking to redesign its door handles following trapped-passenger report

#107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No other car company has screwed it up this badly before. Tesla may force it to happen if enough deaths occur.

If a car has a physical child lock switch engaged, it's not possible to open the door from the inside even in an emergency. Clearly rear emergency egress is not a requirement, a child opening the door while going down the highway is a much larger risk.

Child locks can be automatically disengaged under high deceleration.

Re: Tesla is looking to redesign its door handles following trapped-passenger report

#108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't that depend on the accuracy of the tool doing the measuring?

Not really. Stand in front of a car, squint, and observe the size of its silhouette. Now move slightly so that you can see the outline of the door handle, and consider its relative size compared to the rest of the car. This isn't a perfect comparison. You could design car handles that look like little parachutes attached to something with the drag profile of a dolphin, but that's not a likely situation. In general, t…

It's not solely about size, it's about disruption of laminar flow which causes much more drag than the parasitic drag if the handle alone.

Re: Tesla is looking to redesign its door handles following trapped-passenger report

#109

> The Bloomberg investigation found numerous instances of passengers who were killed or severely burned by post-crash fires when rescuers on the scene were unable to open the doors. Have any of these incidents result in major law suits? Seems pretty likely they would and should sue. Honeslt yI hate modern automotive designs. My one wish for the Chinese EV makers was that one of them just makes a friggin normal car th…

A normal car of yore with ac that gets from A to B, but is electric. Imagine that.

Get the 2019 Hyundai Kona. It's a boring shitbox, but its electric. I love mine!

Re: Tesla is looking to redesign its door handles following trapped-passenger report

#110

Just to share a personal anecdote. The other day me and my wife were getting into an Uber that was a Model 3 and she said to me "I don't know how this door works, can you open it for me". Sure they are not that hard to figure out but something like door handles shouldn't be something to "figure out" at all, it should be immediately obvious how to open the vehicle. Beyond that I just dislike electronic door handles in…

> electronic handle puts less wear on the car as it can accurately actuate the door release and do it better than a human More important is lessening wind resistance and noise. Tesla windows seal tightly against the moulding and they need to be lowered about a centimeter before opening or closing the door. The electronic latches do this automatically.

There is no reason why a manual handle should not be able to trigger the window motor before releasing the door catch or even pull the window down itself. There are vehicles with frameless windows that have more conventional door handles.

But I have to say that I prefer the handles on my Model S to those on the Model 3. Tesla loaned a Model 3 to me while they replaced the battery in my Model S. Even after three weeks the Model 3 handles steel seemed awkward to me.

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