The sheriff said Tesla CEO Elon Musk helped the investigation by having the truck unlocked after it auto-locked in the blast and giving investigators video of the suspect at charging stations along its route from Colorado to Las Vegas.
What if this hadn’t been purposeful but an accidental blast… and the doors auto-locked someone inside? Do you need Musk’s personal cell number to be able to get out alive? What even is this?
Seriously, how are Tesla’s not widely considered dangerous deathtraps at this point.
Serious answer: The front doors have easily accessible manual releases. Unless there is damage to the door frame/mechanism, it is trivial to get out of a Tesla with no power. These work even if the door is locked, since the lock is implemented in software
things that are such absurd design failures it’s hard to say with a straight face
I don’t see that as a design failure. I actually really like them. Electronic door controls both inside and out, plus a mechanical backup only inside. It’s not a perfect design, but neither are mechanical door controls. It’s also not unique to Tesla: many other cars have electronic door actuators with software locks
other modern cars doing bad design is a known problem yes. im just hearing described differences but no benefits personally.
I’m not an automotive engineer, so I don’t have a great understanding of the benefits as perceived by auto manufacturers. Still, here are some benefits as I see it:
Too bad those “easily accessible manual releases” aren’t the actual door handle and are hidden so well you’d never find them if you were unfamiliar with the vehicle.
They’re right in front of the window switches, and in my experience, unfamiliar passengers are more likely to use the manual door release than the actual door button. They’re actually too easy to find, in my opinion, but that’s probably for the best
They shouldn’t be separate in the first place. It’s just bad design that’s prone to failure. And in this case that failure mode is VERY far from failsafe, it’s potentially deadly.
What if you’re on fire?
There’s nothing special about the Tesla door in that regard, so it is possible for it to become mechanically warped/obstructed in an accident or fire just like any other car door
It’s promising that a cybertruck can go through that and still be remote unlocked