Sooo… The moral of the story is…
Read the owners manual or your Tesla will kill you!
If I had a Tesla, I read everything just out of curiosity.
“When the electric system fails, there is a way to get out of an electric car, which is clearly outlined in Tesla’s manual, but experts believe many drivers, like Meggison, are unaware.”
The drivers are unaware because no one reads the manual.
That includes you considering we had to tell you there was a 12v jump point in the engine compartment of your car that was spelled out in your owners manual.
Did the complainer actually not know about the mechanical release or is he searching for a quick payday? I knew about the mechanical door latch release the day I bought my Model 3.
Since it could be a serious safety issue, perhaps a warning sticker should be required on the Tesla’s dashboard showing the manual-option door opening option.
I recall hearing a similar story of someone stuck in a C7 Corvette.
It seems like in a life/death emergency like that, a person stuck in the hot car could just kick the windshield out.
Lexus has electronic door latches, there is also an SOS button to call for help. The receptionist can explain how to operate the emergency door release.
It is not as easy as you think.
It indeed looks pretty difficult to kick out the windshield, on that car anyway. I wonder how the difficulty compares to kicking out the side windows or the rear window?
Reminds me of the comedy/drama movie “SLC Punk”. A teenager punk-music enthusiast is arrested (for being overly enthusiastic) & placed in the back seat of a parked police car. He escapes by kicking out the back window when nobody is looking.
It’s a movie George. Fidelity to real life isn’t required.
I found a short u-tube from that part of the movie. The window-kick scene is at 1:15.
For those that are curious:
It took me 15 seconds to find this, did the person in the car not have a smartphone?
It sounds like not much about that driver was “smart”.
Tesla engineers made a decision. Instead of having the door with a manual handle like in every other car, they place it in some weird location. Then when once or twice in 20 years your battery goes completely dead, and you are in a dark garage locked in your car, you find that the engineers also do not have a handle on the dash pocket. I suspect that you also find out that the emergency system to call Tesla also works on 12 volts, and that the interior lights won’t work even if you rip open the dash pocket and try to read the manual.
These are the same engineers who think they can build a fool-proof auto-pilot.
James May ownsa a model S and put in an easier way to chargethe 12v because it doesnt get charged of the big battery is full, thetes a way to get to the 12v if no power but it isn’t easy. Cant open the doirs from outside either
It’s right there on the door arm rest about 4 inches below the electronic door button and maybe an inch in front of the window buttons. What’s weird about that?
I may have misunderstood earlier descriptions. However, it apparently is weird enough that it requires a description in the manual, and it is not obvious enough for the driver to know about it. A system that is available for “emergency use” should be the most obvious.
It also sounds like front and rear passengers do not get the luxury of being able to get out easily if the 12 v battery fails.
If the engineers are forgetting these issues during the design process, what other flaws are lurking? When they fail with the simplest systems, what does this mean for the auto-pilot systems? Question: how does the Tesla tech get into the car?
The manual also tells you NOT to drink battery acid… nough said… lol