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Comment by userbinator | Hacker News Reader

the defective design of the door latch system entrapping him in the vehicle

This was discussed furiously in the HN articles of the time; the latch apparently has a manual actuator, but how to use it is not obvious at all, especially in an emergency.

I also noticed the subtitle is "Settlement Comes After Automaker in April Struck Confidential Accord". That had to be deliberate.

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> the latch apparently has a manual actuator, but how to use it is not obvious at all, especially in an emergency.

The result of prioritizing design over function — and in this case, safety!

Is it even that? Are there a lot of people that are put off by mechanical pulls?

No but novel UX gimmicks can be appealing to some customers. Tesla cars have a number of unusual features that are functionally bad but get attention.

Why would you be caught in a car where the doors open like _this_ instead of like _this_?

Maybe ideally they should have mixed the two: a light pull does the electronic thing (rolls windows clear of weather stripping, etc), a hard pull does the manual thing.

I test drove a Lexus TX recently, it has a door assist too, but it's real simple: push the handle and the door assist operates, pull the handle (maybe twice if locked) and the door operates like a normal door. Easy and intuitive.

Apologies, but what is "door assist"?

(My car must be old, from an era when doors were simpler)

Apparently it's too hard to open a car door yourself anymore. I guess Tesla popularized pushing a button and then the car electrically pushes open the door a bit; but Lexus has it too now. Electric sliding doors in minivans are pretty old too, but this is for the front doors.

I don't know about the older Model S, but in my Model 3 the mechanical door opener is completely blank and unmarked.

I love my Tesla but that company is horrible with making it apparent how to open doors. My passengers never know how to get in or out.

Worse, look at the Cybertruck... I swear their next car will only open the doors from the app.

The older 3 had the rear door manual latch under the liner in the door pocket and in the first year or so there wasn’t anything to easily grab it

I remember something about the manual door latch being behind a speaker like cover in early Tesla models?

Also, in the last year or so, I remember if you use the manual latch, it will crack the window?

> I remember something about the manual door latch being behind a speaker like cover in early Tesla models?

Was curious and did some searching, AFAICT it looks like someone on the front-seat is often OK, but if you're in the back seat you may be in trouble.

Model S involves a cable behind your ankles:

https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/models/en_us/GUID-AAD769C...

The Model X involves removing a speaker grille and pulling a cable down and towards the front of the car:

https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/modelx/en_us/GUID-AAD769C...

In the Model 3 you have to know to pry up a piece of molding in a lower pocket of the door before manipulating a cable:

https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-A7A60DC...

Model Y is like 3 except some of them do not have a manual release for rear-passengers, and those that do involve another step to pull up a mat from the bottom of the door-pocket:

https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/modely/en_us/GUID-AAD769C...

I was t-boned in a new model s (with yoke) and there wasn't any release like the manual said. Dunno if the carpet was just covering it and someone skipped that step but even the folks at the shop couldn't figure how to open them. Same goes with releasing the rear seats forward, if you don't have power they wont go down and of course the emergency escape latch in the trunk is basically impossible to get to unless you're already in the trunk area.

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