In case you thought cars would become safer as technology developed… rest assured, Tesla is finding newer and ever-dumber ways to make their cars dangerous to occupants (and others).
TL;DR: If you’re in a Tesla and it loses power (like in a fire), the only way to open the doors is often an unlabeled wire behind either two panels or a speaker grill. Tesla owners are DIYing janky rip cords to make that wire easier to pull to escape.
Last year 5 people in my town burned alive in a Tesla while talking with 911 operator after a crash. No media reports other than local news.
Why your name purple
Voyager dev
Oh that’s so cool I’m using Voyager rn! Ty for the info
When the article (the original one) said “at least 12 people” had died trapped in Teslas, my first thought was, “At least 12 people are reported to have died, because that number sounds way too low.”
With how much media fuckery by billionaires is going on these days, I wouldn’t be surprised if many more casualties are going un- and under-reported. When rich people control media, they control people’s perception of reality. There’s so much blood on Elon Musk’s hands, it’s sickening.
They crashed near my town!
Our local news also covered it (linked in the article). The local Reddit board definitely noticed how quiet the media was about it.
Because you’re right, the 911 dispatch records are public, the dispatcher mentioned that the people inside the vehicle were yelling for assistance. They were alive and awake. They just couldn’t figure out how to escape.
God, what a stupid door handle design!
ayo it’s voyager
Why isn’t there a mandatory recall being issued? These shouldn’t have been sold with such an oversight.
It wasn’t an oversight, it is a feature because manual door pulls are old fashioned and not as cool.
Electronic windows were an improvement over hand cranked, but the doors could still be opened. Though I do wonder if they have ever been the cause of a loss of life.
I agree that this design should have never passed any safety board. That the ability to open the door can be disabled or made much more difficult.
To your wondering, read the article, and treat yourself to knowing!
TL;DR: Yes, at least 12 people have been trapped in burning Teslas where they were alive after a wreck but unable to escape.
I think they were referring to electric windows, but it is ambiguous in context.
Aw lord, you’re right. I didn’t read that original comment close enough, thought they were talking about the door releases. Thanks for the heads up.
That’s terrifying. It is a low number, but that it is non zero and the presence of a manual control would change the outcome is not good.
Of course you could find an old car with manual windows, but that would lack quite a few other safety features that have saved many more lives.
Starting to get on the fuck cars bandwagon, just wish I lived somewhere where that was an option.
Electronic windows were an improvement over hand cranked, but the doors could still be opened. Though I do wonder if they have ever been the cause of a loss of life.
Absolutely, I think there were more than a few cars that ended up in the water where the occupant couldn’t roll down the window and the water pressure kept the door closed. That’s why in the 90s there was a huge market for window hammers and they had regular “how to get out of your car” PSAs. I think it was absolutely over blown and maybe only a few cases where someone died, but it was real.
DOGE went after the people who could recall Elon’s death machines first.
Musk greased the right palms.
And then he gave them a horse afterwards.
It’s all about the money. Conversely, when they say we need to do this for your safety, it’s all about the money.
TSLA 📉
Bad news sends $TSLA to the moon, so next stop is Mare Desiderii
Hiding the emergency release behind a panel should be illegal. These things are death traps.
That’s why they call it a “manual” release, not “emergency”. To try and sneak under the radar for doing something so dangerous.
But the worst part is that at peak Tesla popularity, people were blaming the victims for not knowing that it was a small cable, hidden inside the door, under the liner in the door pocket.
peoplesmall group of idiots were blaming the victims for not knowing…
I wouldn’t even feel safe if I had a close electrician friend strip the batteries for use as a house battery.
They have a huge safety-orange pull tab that disconnects the two banks of the battery. But even then you shouldn’t operate on them unless you are trained. 350 VDC is no joke.
I’d mount them outside or in our detached shed.
Or…and hear me out…
Mahbe just don’t buy Teslas?
Other fancy cars have similar issues. This is really something that should be dealt with through regulation.
What fancy cars don’t have frickin door handles? Does Tesla still count as fancy besides their price point?
I had a loaner Charger EV it also has electric door handles and the manual release is just as hidden. Dodge copied the worse bits of the Tesla.
Any sort of supercar has this same system.
Mustang Mach E has no exterior door handles. Well, technically it does, but it is literally just a solid handle. No mechanical components at all.
Depends… how well do you like your back-seat passengers?
I take Uber, so I’d appreciate any of my driver’s doing this. Please like me!
I bought my acquaintance with a Tesler the cheapest glass breaking hammer thingy (1 monies including shipping :)).
Most Tesla front windows are laminated glass like a windshield, not tempered. It helps block out road noise and wind whooshing which is important in an EV since you don’t have an engine rumbling to cover up those noises.
The glass breaking hammer may not be as useful as you think.
Oh, I know almost nothing about Teslas (lack of interest on my part), but you are right.
(Not sure how many Teslas use it tho.)It seems you can buy little glass saws if your side windows are laminated.
Rescuers use power saws or these little clippers:
Make them tape it somewhere accessible in the car. If it’s loose in the car, the they will never find it in time after an accident.
I’ll just use it & pre-break all their windows, it’s the safest option tbh.
I think a classic is appropriate at this point.
ROFL
A guy at work is thinking of buying a Model Y. We’ve asked why he’d buy one and he doesn’t want to come out and say it’s to support Musk. Since he’s not even considering other EVs, it’s definitely to support Musk.
If he does get one, he’ll just make excuses as to why it’s a POS.
Lol, buying an electric car to own the libs.
The richest man in the world needs my help!
I’ll allow it
Here’s the truly maddening part. This isn’t some unsolvable engineering problem. Tons of other manufacturers seemed to have figured this out, and many opt for the same simple solution. In models with electric door handles… Porsche, Audi, Lexus, even the Ford Mustang Mach-E… the solution is elegantly simple: To mechanically open the non-Tesla electronic doors: Just pull the door handle harder.
I wonder if this has to do with patents somehow. I don’t get why people would even care about having a car door that requires slightly less force to unlatch to begin with though, if they can’t do it safely the obviously better design would be to just have it be a regular car door…
The crazy thing, I think that the other guys are imitating Tesla.
Tesla was an early adopter of electronic latches. They open slightly smoother than a mechanical latch. That smoothness is haptic feedback that became associated with “fancy car” in the buyer’s head. The Ford Mach-E and the Audi e-Tron… I think they’re just imitating Tesla, only they don’t do it in the stupid and dangerous way, because they’re not amateurs. They’re imitating Tesla while removing the obvious safety flaw in the design.
Of course, you are 100% right. It should just be a regular car door handle, if there is ANY risk of the door not functioning with the silly tiny-added-value electronic feature.
I don’t get why people would even care about having a car door that requires slightly less force to unlatch to begin with…
Because it’s not “slightly” less. It’s completely automatic. On a Toyota Sienna, for instance, a tiny flick of the sliding door handle causes the door to open all the way electronically. A 90 year old with arthritis could do it. Meanwhile, that same handle also manually opens the door but requires a fuck ton more force.
You should install a separate battery system (and have it on an easy to access place for simple battery replacement - on the ceiling, for example). Also slap a battery status display on the dashboard, better keep it separate and not depend on the babby tablet. Now, what will this battery power? The emergency system, of course. I’ve got two words for you: Explosive bolts. That’s right, you pull one of the new tiger-stripe-marked levers above each door, and all of the doors eject violently to the side, allowing you to escape a doomed vehicle in any conceivable circumstance. This is what we in the know call “cyberpunk as fuck”.
Better solution is to have an explosive pin on each window. Flip the cover, and press the button and all the pins detonate, shattering each window.
You could make even tie it in to the door circuit. As long as the car has power to the door latch, pressing the button does nothing.
voids the warranty in 3-2-1
I carry something like this in all my enclosed vehicles:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_breaker
I wonder if this would even work in a CT considering the tempered glass?
In a CT you just send a mean tweet and the glass will break. Or at least something will.
Tempered glass will break easily with either an impact style glass breaker or the automatic punch type. Most cars use tempered glass for side windows. As a retired medic who has done more than my share of nasty car accidents, I absolutely hate impact glass breakers like you find on “Rescue knives”. They almost always send broken glass shards all over my patient and I’m forced to kneel in said glass while working. The auto punch style tends to drop the glass shards more straight down minimizing having glass everywhere.
More Pro Tips from an old firefighter/rescue squad/medic: a $3.50US Harbor Freight auto center punch works as well for breaking glass as those fancy $50US glass breakers and is a worthy addition to your glove box. Toss a pencil and paper in there to take notes if needed also.
Safety glass cannot be broken with a glass breaker because it’s a laminated glass with a plastic film holding everything together. It can be sawed with something as simple as a dull reciprocating saw blade though. But you need to get a hole into it first. A fire ax is probably the go to tool for that, but a Halligan tool will also work. (Pro tip: A Halligan tool will solve most issues involving things that block your way.) Some cars do use safety glass for side windows.
Super Important Pro Tip: Always, always try before you pry. No matter how bad an accident scene might look, it’s amazing at what still works. Doors open, seat belts release, (in 20 years I never needed to cut a seat belt), and widows roll down, (even electric ones).
Final Pro Tip: Always, always be cautious when approaching a wreak. Stay away from the low side of a wreak and be super extra fearful of a car on it’s side. Look under the car before you get close. Look for leaking fluids. Stay up wind of an EV if you see any kind smoke. Those fumes can kill you. Be wary of undetonated air bags. Don’t stick your head into the car. About 100 cops are killed every year in the US because they get stupid and stick their heads into that situation.
All in all, the ultimate rule in rescue is “You are there to be a part of the solution to the problem. Don’t be stupid and become part of the problem.”
Super Important Pro Tip: Always, always try before you pry. No matter how bad an accident scene might look, it’s amazing at what still works. Doors open, seat belts release, (in 20 years I never needed to cut a seat belt), and widows roll down, (even electric ones).
I have a lot of personal experience that confirms this (not necessarily cars, but other mangled things that trap people). It is pretty wild some times at how bad something looks but still functions.
Appreciate all the info!
I did forget to add the warning to that. That because it’s amazing what still works, you need to be very careful because of those things that still function. Things might look safe but a bump or just bad luck something decides it’s going to move or spin due to a stray electrical impulse or release of stored energy. And now you are part of the problem.
Scene Safety above all else!
“Try before you pry” got a muscle-level, knee-jerk reaction for me XD
Some aspects of training really stick with you. If I’m getting out of my truck to clear debris or whatever off the road, I can practically hear my training officer asking if the scene is safe.
Thanks for the pro tips! Agreed, Halligan tool is the cure for all that ails you
Keep your Irons in hand, your head on a swivel, and be safe out there and have some fun!
They didn’t need to tell me to have fun - I was having a fucking BLAST! I had that young-person invincibility thing going on.
Now, medical calls, those were a whole different deal. And unfortunately that was probably 95% of my calls, I had the EMT-B cert and most the other volunteers didn’t XD
Traumas are cool, but medicals are the true challenge to your skills. They can be intricate puzzles that can test you to the brink.
Smart.
It would not work on a CT, unfortunately. A hammer, rock, or tree branch will do in a pinch, or one Good Samaritan managed to do it with his bare hands to rescue a kid from a fire (he went full Rip and Tear mode, and peeled it off the track I guess)
Mad respect for the random stranger who unleashed his inner gorilla adrenaline.
Might not work on laminated glass
TIL that that “might” is an understatement. It doesn’t work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ96pg9D_30
also found this https://rescue42.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/The-Ripper-White-Paper.pdf
Thanks for that.
Yea, that’s a lot more like the ones I have
From what I have gathered glass breakers don’t work on
tempered glasslaminated glass (which is what newer cars are now using). I read somewhere that fire fighters essentially have to use a sawzall in order to get through a window like that. Pretty much everything I can think of that’s almost as compact as a glass break requires power or batteries of some kind which would be yet another thing to remember to charge and maintain.Not that it would be OK as a commercial product, but I have wondered how small a shape charge could get and still make a good enough opening for egress.
You read right. Sawzall is not suitable for glass without a special blade, though. It’s easier to use a similar tool called a GlassMaster.
Before cordless sawzall’s became a thing, every fire depadtment/rescue squad would make up a handle that you could attach a used sawzall blade to for cutting safety glass windshields. And they still carry them to this day as a backup. They are amazingly effective. You just need a hole to get started.
These days, every rescue/fire truck carries a cordless sawzall as the go to for such jobs. No special blade required.
Ahh, I was just about to go on a rabbit hole looking for this info. Thanks!
Amazing how this looks like a Tim & Eric skit.
You are thinking about Safety glass and not tempered glass. safety glass has plastic film laminated between some layers of glass.
Tempered glass doesn’t have that and when stressed at a small point, crumbles quite satisfyingly easy.
You are correct, I had terms swapped around in my head. Tempered glass is what glass break devices were designed for. Newer cars are swapping their tempered glass windows for laminated glass windows which traditional glass break devices do not work on.
Yeah, there a few cars out there that do have safety glass rather than just tempered glass installed as side windows. But they are fairly uncommon due to the high cost and at least one engineer’s thought that safety glass might not be the safest thing in that application. Because it does make it more difficult to quickly gain access to an injured person if needed.
I think BMW has a couple models with safety glass for side windows. But it’s been a hot minute since I have needed to concern myself with such minutia.
AFAIK all you need for tempered glass is a bit of ceramic material (spark plugs are an easy way to get this), at least for the side windows. Windshields are a different type of glass. Mohs scale.
That’s fascinating that a sawzall could even do something to tempered glass if one of these spring loaded breakers and a hefty tip doesn’t do anything. I guess it’s got to do with the angle of attack/vibrations. Very interesting.
Does this work on tinted windows
Great question, which also led me to laminated glass
I have a feeling tinting won’t be as much of an issue. If anything, it will keep the shattered glass more held together, but still shatter and weaken it enough to kick out (or for water pressure to do the job for you). I can’t find any videos on a cursory search for tinted windows, though.
I guess something is better than nothing. Tint I feel like is not as powerful as laminated glass. It’s not fused with the glass just a sticker
Why the fuck not using mechanical ports?
Too mainstream
This article might be misleading. Every Tesla I’ve ever been in has a purely mechanical door handle/latch to open each of the 4 doors. It’s legitimately hidden in plain sight, so if nobody tells you that it’s there you might not find it but it’s very easy to access if you know it’s there. They absolutely should make it more obvious that it’s there. Maybe there are some models that don’t have it? Not sure. I’ve been in the S, 3, and Y.
Edit: not misleading, see following replies.
Oh no, you’re right, Teslas have a mechanical fallback system. We also detailed where those latches are located in the article. With videos of some of them, like how-to-use them sort of footage, too.
The DIY rip cord doesn’t add the emergency door release, it just makes the existing door release easier to find in a rush.
Ah ok. I confess I read a few paragraphs and looked at the pictures but didn’t watch the video. Thanks for the info, I’ll have to look closer in the back seat next time I get the chance. If they don’t have the same well-hidden mechanical release that the front seats have then that’s absurdly dangerous.
Yeah, nah - it is well into the absurdly dangerous territory :j
The front seat levers aren’t so bad (just unlabeled), the back seat levers are totally bananas
My 3 from 2017 had easy to access releases on all four doors, but I believe recent models aren’t the same. That car got sold to CarBuyerUSA for $5k net, woo.
My Plaid (before I ditched it because fuck Elon) had easy to access emergency releases on the front doors, so easy passengers pulled them accidentally when getting out. But the back didn’t have the same, you had to access it through some bit under the seat or some crap, to be honest I don’t recall finding it.
Yeah, that’s the trick.
I found 12 people who died trapped in Teslas lately, in a casual Google search… of those, 8 were in the back seats, with those completely nutty emergency release locations. Under the carpet, right beneath the seat lip, dumb stuff like that.
That kills people, as it turns out.
