Man Gets “Trapped” In Hot Tesla After Battery Dies As He Wasn’t Aware Of Manual Release

From the article:

The man is blaming the automaker even though the manual door opener was under his left hand the whole time.

A man in Arizona says that he was recently trapped in his Tesla after getting in, closing the door, and then realizing that his battery was dead. What he didn’t know is that the manual release for the door was under his left hand the whole time. Now, he’s blaming the automaker and raising awareness.

Rick Meggison, 73, says that Tesla needs to address what he calls a “safety concern” involving how to exit the car when the battery dies. The main door latch actuator on all Tesla models is electronic so if the 12-volt battery dies it won’t work. To ensure safe exit of the vehicle Tesla includes a manual release. Meggison didn’t know about that and ended up trapped in his car for 20 minutes on a hot day.

“I couldn’t open the doors. I couldn’t lower the windows. The computer was dead, so I couldn’t open the glove box. I couldn’t open anything,” he told ABC7. Of course, he could’ve opened the door in about two seconds had he known that the manual release was just ahead of his window switches. His situation has many wondering who’s to blame in situations like this.

Moc,

If a passenger can’t figure out how to safety exit a vehicle, that sounds like a design problem.

WiseMoth,

Looking at the image in the article, it looks like a pretty simple latch

Moc,

Not obvious enough for a safety feature

superkret,

Yeah, it needs to be obvious to a person who hasn’t read the manual.

LazaroFilm,
@LazaroFilm@lemmy.world avatar

Agreed. Manual opening should be visible and easily used by anyone even if you don’t know how Tesla works.

Clent,

Yeah. This is pretty cut and dry.

Opening a car door from the inside shouldn’t require special knowledge. It shouldn’t require searching.

The manual release inside a trunk is easier to find.

iByteABit,

Can we stop reinventing the wheel constantly ffs?

Electric windows, electric handbrakes, computers in control of everything and now electric fucking doors?

What’s even the point besides artificially upping the price and selling it as a “luxury product” that can barely function in an emergency?

Snapz,

This source keeps pushing tesla propaganda. There’s always an angle trying to sell that it wasn’t the tesla’s fault

PetteriSkaffari,

Could have called 911, provided he had a phone with him. With an active battery.

FoundTheVegan,
FoundTheVegan avatar

So I've been driving my partners Tesla for around 6 months now. After we moved in togther it just made sense to take her nicer car than mine. Mostly just to the store and back, but once a road trip for a few days.

I legit did not know there was a manual release of the door until now. I asked her if she knew and apparently the dealership told her. But if this exact scenario happened to me, I assume I would've found it eventually, but... I assume it would probably take me a few minutes.

If the safety feature is unnoticeable to a regular user, then it's not a very good feature.

FuglyDuck,
@FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

Most Tesla owners don’t actually know. It’s a problem.

A larger problem is that emergency responders aren’t being trained on every model, (they don’t have the time,) so if the 12v turns off, or shorts, you’re stuck.

The rampant over-engineering of literally everything in the car is one of the largest reasons i will never willingly drive a Tesla.

Thrawne,

Do these cars not come with a physical manual?

DoomBot5,

Might be in the glove box? Accessible via touchscreen only (yes it’s dumb).

haych, (edited )

Controversial opinion, but anyone buying a car which is a giant death machine, should read the manual before driving it, especially when it’s an electric vehicle and things aren’t like normal cars.

Now I dislike Tesla, but the manual release isn’t hard to find.

Terevos,
@Terevos@lemm.ee avatar

I’ve even had people almost use it instead of the normal button. “Oh not that one. The button where your thumb is”

brygphilomena,

This might work if the only occupant ever was the owner. But it totally ignores all the passengers and children that will be in the vehicle.

Door handles should be intuitive at this point.

thetwaddler,

What about passengers or people who rent a Tesla?

poopsmith,
@poopsmith@lemmy.world avatar

The manual release doesn’t appear to have any symbols. The electric one does, yeah.

The release should be obvious to all drivers, not just the owners. Valets and guests should be able to tell where the door release is too, without consulting a manual.

knacht1,
@knacht1@lemmy.world avatar

Isn’t the manual displayed on the touch screen?

haych,

They have a copy on the touch screen and another on their website. I’ve probably read more of the Tesla manual than most Tesla drivers and I don’t even like Tesla.

2ez,

When someone is panicking, the nonstandard design will really shine.

haych,

Exactly why you should read the manual first.

Skelectrician,

So imagine for a moment that this is a child and not a senior. You gonna scream at little Timmy for not RTFM?

Car doors have been pretty standard and self explanatory for 100 years, until now. There was no good reason to make such a huge design change for the sake of looking cool, especially when the override is hidden behind a piece of trim.

madcaesar,

Exactly. People on here claiming read the manual to find out how to open a door must be missing /s because they sound insane.

Standards exist for a reason and your product should be intuitive or BETTER, a shitty button with a picture is not better than a handle like literally everywhere else.

GbyBE,

If there even is a paper manual, it’s probably in the electronically opened glovebox, which obviously won’t open anymore…

haych,

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like the change, I dislike Tesla’s and see no reason for Tesla to change what is standard.

But I still believe a grown adult buying a giant metal death machine should read the manual before driving off in one, especially when if you do just calmly look around for more than 5 seconds you can find the door open latch.

Skelectrician,

Normally, I’d agree with you, but in a matter of life or death, like baking in a hot car, the means of exit should be obvious for anyone, including children and the elderly. Just like in public buildings with proper exit signage, there should be no questioning how to get the fuck out in an emergency.

2ez, (edited )

Have you read your car’s manual cover to cover?

I hope you’re not responsible for designing products, because intuitive product design is important. Requiring a manual to understand a potentially life-saving feature of your vehicle, because the manufacturer chose form over function… listen to yourself.

Here’s another great solution: don’t let your car battery die (/s)

haych,

Yes, I have 2 cars, I’ve read both manuals.

I’m not saying I agree with with the bad for handles, but manuals for a big death machine should be read anyway, and if he did he’d know how to open a door.

deegeese,

I know this is 8 months old, but are you seriously arguing people should read a car’s manual to know how to open the door?

Any door that requires the user to read a manual is a terrible design.

haych,

You misunderstand. I’m saying every car owner should read the manual for their car. Buy a new car, read the manual, it contains a lot of useful information whether you drive a crappy Tesla or not.

DragonTypeWyvern,

Especially for seventy year olds, the most reasonable and adaptive kind of human!

FoxBJK,
@FoxBJK@midwest.social avatar

You’re not wrong, but why is Tesla reinventing the door handle? Why does this need to be powered now? Seems like they’re fixing something that wasn’t broken.

HotDogFingies,
HotDogFingies avatar

Because it's soOoOOo futuristic and innovative!!! /s

Kushan,
@Kushan@lemmy.world avatar

On the outside, the door handles of a Tesla automatically recess when not in use, which reduces drag on the car and let’s it drive more efficiently (therefore giving you more range).

Tesla does a lot of “reinventing for the sake of it” but in this one instance there is actually a reason for it.

chunkystyles,

The door handle in question is on the inside of the car. It doesn’t serve any engineering reason to be resigned other than for aesthetics.

CurseBunny,

Wikipedia article concerning drag coefficients

The drag coefficients of even the more recent Teslas are comparable to other vehicles that don’t use retracting door handles, even the GM EV1 from 1999 beats all the Teslas on the table in terms of drag reduction. The door handles may technically be a contributing factor towards their more favorable position on the list, but they’re certainly not necessary and don’t seem to be highly impactful. A large part of Tesla design philosophy and marketing is making their cars seem futuristic and highly advanced through things like motorized door handles and autopilot. Their primary goal is to provide a unique and pleasant user experience “out of the box” and their justification for things like the door handles retracting are almost certainly retroactive.

brygphilomena,

They don’t provide a printed copy of the manual, it’s only on the computer. This makes it awkward to really read as you have to sit in the car. It also means that if the battery dies you cannot access it to even look up things like the manual door release.

haych,

tesla.com/…/GUID-7A32EC01-A17E-42CC-A15B-2E0A39FD…

I don’t own a Tesla so I guess it’s impossible for me to read this then.

Auk,
Auk avatar

It always surprises me that EV manufacturers don't just have the car always keep the 12v battery charged enough to keep essential systems running. The car already has the hardware to charge the 12v battery and a massive traction battery to provide power - it wouldn't be that hard to charge the battery if it goes flat when the car is off.

Terevos,
@Terevos@lemm.ee avatar

They do charge the 12v, but when that battery no longer works properly, there’s no cut over to an inverter of some kind. And there probably should be

FireTower,
@FireTower@lemmy.world avatar

Not even really relevant to this post but I hate the minimizing trend of car’s interfaces. I’d much rather have an actual handle & volume dials rather than touch screens shoved at you as a cheap way to trick people into thinking a car is more expensive when in reality it has better margins like that.

Cheems,
@Cheems@lemmy.world avatar

Touch screens are cheaper to use over actual buttons and dials which is why they are the new standard.

purahna, (edited )
@purahna@lemmygrad.ml avatar

https://www.carscoops.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/GUID-3E788A87-9F37-487E-ABB0-82FD910F6B90-online-en-US.jpg

this is the most sleekness-over-usability dysfunctional bullshit I’ve seen in a minute, it’s not even labeled

$0.50 has been deposited into your Tesla Supercharger credit account

hollywoodhoogle,
@hollywoodhoogle@lemmy.world avatar

The back one is even worse. You have to pull up the cup holder mat and pry out a clip before you can pull a wire.

HotDogFingies,
HotDogFingies avatar

Cool. Bet kids will figure that out really quickly when there's an emergency that requires them to exit the dead vehicle ASAP.

Why are these things street-legal again?

QuinceDaPence,

Yeah even motorcycles (probably one of the least regulated road legal vehicles) have all the safety related items legally standardized as far as rough position (kill switch, horn, high beam, front brake, clutch (if present), and rear brake (2 options))

I can run up to any motorcycle made in the last 80 years and if I need to shut it off, I can do so with my eyes closed because there is always a kill switch on the right handle bar.

Exusia,
@Exusia@lemmy.world avatar

God damn that’s some shitty execution of a handle. I can see how it would get mistaken as asthetic molding

DoomBot5,

It’s not meant to be used normally. The button further up is the normal electronic release.

mister_monster,

Manual release huh. Back in my day we called it a door handle.

Can we quit reinventing shit that works fine already? It’s just marketing anyway.

Chickenstalker,

Door handles have been perfected since Ogg build a door to his cave. Why do we need to reinvent it?

gullible,

The sorts of people still buying teslas are angry that you’d propose they touch non-proprietary technology.

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