Flat 12v battery rendered the whole car dead, window had to be broken to rescue trapped child

My Sandero has mechanical locks, if the battery is dead and the vehicle is locked I can open the passenger door with the key, that will grant access to the cabin, the other doors can be opened by pulling the inside handle, it will also allow access to the bonnet so the battery can be powered

Elon knows more about manufacturing than anyone currently alive on Earth. No way it's a design fail.

Small people, small minds.

In a 2018 Tesla Model S, the manual door release for the front doors is located in front of the window switches, and should only be used when the car has no power. For the rear doors, the manual release is a cable located behind a removable carpet flap, positioned below the rear seats.

Wait till you know about the manual unlock location for the rear doors.

Except for all the great engineers and supply chain managers who can ship profitable products without government handouts 😉

This is a problem for many EVs, not just Tesla. They use electronic locks for max aerodynamics and trying to be fancy

Yay free market capitalism! Right? 😂

And how is that helpful if you're locked out of the car?

It is similar for model y and 3. But the problem is in case of emergency like after a crash, the power usually goes out rendering the electric unlock button not to work. While you can use the emergency handle on the front doors. You need to really struggle to unlock the rear doors.

I think a lot of cars are starting to have electronic locks…. Not sure this is just an EV or just a Tesla problem.

Sell it. Buy a real car.

I was considering that a few weeks ago while in the back of a Model 3 Uber. If there was an accident that rendered the electronic locks inactive, how do you get out? Having a manual override buried somewhere that you need to Google to find would be really useful in the event of a fire. But luckily, Tesla's are famously non-flammable...

Tesla is riddled by design fails. It has been a marketing success but its time is over. There are many better brands and vehicles around now.

Elmo, is that you?

Well we know you aren’t talking about GM or Dodge then.

They’re mocking the time that Musk literally said that he knows more about manufacturing than anyone else on earth

So break the window, remove the cover, pull cable?

Which others? I think it’s just the Mach-e and they have an open recall to do… something about it.

Bot I guess?

I don’t think anyone’s accused them of being the best at manufacturing for quite some time. The entire US auto industry and driving culture have effectively become socialized.

You remove the tow hook cover on the front bumper. This exposes a wiring harness that has two terminals. You apply 12v to it and the frunk pops open. Then you uncover the battery and apply 12v to it and that leads to unlocking the doors.

That is insane. Just break the window then sell the car.

How much drag do we think those recessed handles reduce? And it's very easy to make a recessed pocket.

Odd when I went EV shopping they all other than Tesla has mechanical backups you could use from inside and outside the car. My Kia EV6 for example has those fancy electronic folding handles but you can use a manual key thats hidden in the fob and once unlocked you pull the existing handle a little bit further and it acts as a manual handle. Same with all interior handles.

It is a Yesla problem as other vehicles build a mechanical backup system into the door handles. They also usually have a backup key you can use. Good example is my EV6 with the manual key tucked into the fob and a lock hidden behind the fold in handles (you push the front of the handle to expose the lock and make it easy to grab the handle. I have used it multiple times when my 12V battery died to get into the car so I could open the trunk and jump start it until I declared the 12V battery dead and replaced it.

I didn't know that, I always assumed that any car with flush door handles had no emergency entry if fob or battery dies

Nah just a typical elongelical

I looked into it when I was car shopping a couple of years ago. Used it on my EV6 a couple of times now too.when the 12V battery died so I could jump start the car. My jump start kit was locked inside the car so I was glad for the manual backups at the time. P.S The 12V battery on early EV6s is garbage and lasts a year or two for many people. Since replaced mine with a better quality one.

My spanking new KIA EV3 has flush door handles just like the Teslas but it also has a hidden key slot when it's popped (and you can pop them out manually if there is no power).

Nope. On Ioniq 5 (same platform as EV6), you can push those flush door handles in to expose the key slot. Put regular key in there and open the door. The whole door lock is mechanical as on any ICE car (with electric locks of course). The flush handles are electrically operated but designed so you can defeat them in an emergency. The interior handle to open the door is entirely technical like on an ICE car.

I thought there was a thing in the frunk to pull

I guess it can’t resort to using the high voltage battery if the 12 V dies?

Good luck doing that, folks had to add an extra cable for the passengers in the back to open it easily in case of emergencies

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This is a very well-known problem with EVERY Tesla Model 3 and Model Y made from midv2023 and prior. There are no emergency release levers/cables for the back seats. When 12V power is lost, all door handles are disabled. Emergency release handles (hidden) are the only way out.

natural selection at its finest. ride in the millionaire's sub at the bottom of the ocean, find out he cut corners and ignored engineers for years.

During my test drive, the staff showed me where it is for the front. Except the car doesn't seem to like it when you use it. The infotainment screen made a complaint, and said this may damage the window glass. lol..... Oh and indeed I didn't know where the rear emergency release is. Had to Google it. Like bro WTF, this design has trapped someone inside for sure.

The front is easy to access and you are not suppose to use it except for emergency. Ask them about the ones in the back and see if a 5 year old can figure it out

I think they actually make a bigger difference than expected when you consider 4 of them at 75mph.

Even an adult who is facing a real emergency, would go into panic mode and waste time on this, for sure.

And probably why 12v is no longer in Tesla. 16v Lithium now.

Is that your problem with it? The Nazi stuff was not a deal breaker for you?

We have a salvage title 2018 m3. It has the stalks. I would never purchase one after they removed the stalks. I have tools for removing the bumper plug and a jump box to get in in case the 12v battery dies. Also I carry a spare. Actually it’s not even my car my wife wanted the fucking thing so I found one cheap to charge at home. We don’t use the FSD we have never used a supercharger or paid any monies to Tesla. The car has never seen a Tesla dealer. I’ve learned a lot about Tesla M3 and can confirm they are built like shit. The rear taillights don’t even have gaskets between the the plastic taillights and the body so water just seeps in - a feature, a gasket that a 30 year old Honda would have, totally overlooked. I wouldn’t recommend keeping a Tesla outside especially in the rain. And yes we keep a ceramic window break tool inside the car. If you buy one of these cars you really need to know what you’re getting into.

Wrong guy. That guy’s initials are DT

So it’s less likely to happen. The door still has the same issue. There is really no reason to make the door fully electric in the first place. It’s just a bad design decision like many other imo.

Now done this while the car is half under water

I can still open my model s doors even with the battery being dead. No special lever for emergencies either, just the regular door handle. *edit: from inside the car I mean.

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It still fails the same way.

So easy a child could do it. Oh wait.

An adult already burned in a WankPanzer no? I remember reading about one going into a ditch and caught fire. \ Guy inside didn't get the door in time. There really should be some shielding between the battery and cabin. A few seconds is more then none.

Only on frameless doors. At least mine doesn’t do that afaik

Where do you store the jump box? If you can't get into the car or the frunk in the first place to get the jump box? It's really just arrogance, cheapness, and some strange kind of anti-safety-common-sense that Tesla uses to deliberately omit a manual key hole when it's clearly the correct and easy solution. And it would go against their "you only need a phone app" ideology. Silly company.

Can one pry the frameless window with a flat tool just far enough out to get a wire hook down to pull the manual front door handle? I've never tried it, so just wondering. If it risks shattering the window, well you're gonna do that next anyway, just a fraction of an inch would do.

I tested the front emergency access since it was on my checklist to test. It freaked out the agent at the DC and was told off for using it. Hmmmm

Yes people have died in car crashes as they haven't been able to open the doors

In fact, the risk of burning to death in a Cybertruck is a bit more than 10x the risk of doing so in a Ford Pinto was: https://www.inc.com/sarah-sicard/is-the-tesla-cybertruck-really-as-dangerous-as-the-ford-pinto/91147975

I’ve never looked at how new frameless windows are designed but am now wondering what changed. An old mustang I had had frameless windows and they didn’t retract or anything when opening the door, and never had any problems over the 350,000km I had the car. They just sealed flat against the gasket on the door opening, how a regular door would seal.

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Its mainly a Tesla thing, because cheaper.

I have two cars from the early 2000s that both have frameless windows and neither of them move the window at all when you open the door. The trim is still in perfect shape 20 years later, so clearly whatever tesler is doing to "need" the windows to roll down is a design oversight to begin with & the window rolling down is just to side-step the issue.

Trunk oh I see now… even that is electronic. Ours isn’t powered but the button is an electric release. Fuck. Thanks for pointing this out, I’ll have to figure out a place to store it outside the car.

Maybe you could store your jump box in the frunk with the wires sticking out right next to the car's jump wires. Nobody else would know you've done that as it's all hidden behind the panel. Then if you need to, you just connect the wires. I think I heard it only opens if the car's 12V is truly dead, it won't work if the battery is charged or if there is an electronic fault.

Yeah Im definitely going to be making some holes somewhere to reach those front jumper cables behind the circle plug in the bumper. Things that I’ve added that are basically required: - metal undershield versus that cardboard crap they use - sliding sunscreen front and rear to keep the sun out - rear android infotainment - spare tire, pucks, and a jack Maintenance: - seat control knobs have broken and needed replacement - front upper control arms changed from plastic to cast aluminum (ball joint squeak) - rear taillights removed and resealed with sealant to stop the fog PS: the single stage paint is starting to flake off at every rock chip up front and it’s revealing the primer underneath. Do I care? Not really. It has 80k miles and we call it the battle Tesla

ID4 as well.

First principles

When I get a battery warning (happened 2x so far), I immediately roll down all windows and pop the frunk. Just so I don't have to deal with the 12v madness to pop the frunk when trying to get to the battery.

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Use a metal one and you'll break the glass anyway that way.

I had a look at some Tesla windows. It looks like the frameless glass design has the glass stuffed up against the roof, so maybe you can't easily pry the window open anyway. Has anyone ever tried to pry the top of the window, maybe it's not possible.

Yeah it is not a great design in my opinion since Tesla could have designed the emergency release such that the windows will retract if there is 12v/16v power, and only cause damage when there is an actual power cut in the car.

Empathy is weakness. No pity for those trapped in a burning car.

It's got 80K on it and you have never had it to the service department?

The Cybertruck is 48V. Where would you find a jump pack for that?

Nope that’s in another state. I do the maintenance. There is an internet. I own many cars. FUCK TESLA Edit: imho parent comment is the most hilarious part of Tesla ownership expectations - a car that doesn’t need maintenance but yes of course it does. Most local shops won’t touch one, won’t even put it on a lift to change a tire. Every issue basically requires taking time out of your life to return the stupid thing to a service center and you will get fleeced for money just like every other car dealer. Most parts are readily available on the internet or eBay. The manuals and how to enter service mode is online. There’s usually very little actual reason to go to a service center if cars are your bag but in true Tesla owner fashion, most are visiting service centers way too often. Even more Tesla owners are parking them outside in the elements (good luck with that) and don’t own a L2 home charger so they’re paying subscription fees for charging or paying by the minute. It’s a complete joke to someone like me who’s owned 20 cars.

Had this same thought after the doc. Titan owner/carbon fiber and Elon/No Lidar.