2021 Model S Door Handle Position (Not Coming Out Far Enough) Issues Impacting Light Pipe

[yayarearunner]

Hey All.

Just started to drive the 2021 MS Plaid more at night. I wanted to check with others. I am wondering about the positioning of the door handles when being presented. I have noticed that the LED pipe section is not sticking far out enough on most of my handles, so it doesn't light the ground very well. I still need to play around, but wanted to see if others have had similar issues. It seems that the LED pipe is suppose to stick beyond the door panel so it actually lights the ground, but most of my handles seem to not pop out far enough.

I will put up pictures this evening when it gets dark.

Thanks!

 

[glide]

I don’t recall the LEDs on the door handles being able to light the ground at all.

They are only meant to illuminate the handles.

 

[yayarearunner]

I don’t recall the LEDs on the door handles being able to light the ground at all.

They are only meant to illuminate the handles.

Okay. Wanted to confirm this! I know that when I pull on the handles and the door is in the open position. The LED pipe does extend beyond the door.

 

[Ostrichsak]

This has been one of the chief complaints about the newest version 3 door handles. It doesn't quite present far enough to fully clear the LED light from the door panel itself causing a broken light at best and in some cases very little to no light at all to reach the ground. The previous versions extended more fully to clear the LED of the door panel and better illuminate the ground underneath. In order to deploy the new door handle assemble properly they also needed to make a new door handle that had the LED extended a little bit further out from the center than it currently is. They still use the same handles so that in the field they can keep that part while replacing the actual mechanism though so my guess is they just hoped nobody would notice. The true solution would have been a all new revision from the ground up with a handle that also properly illuminated the ground given the amount it extends from the door panel.

 

[Ande]

Same was supposed to work on my 2016, but it proved to be an advanced technological challenge to have all adjusted property, so they fixed only two of the four to work as expected.

 

[GroovaEV]

Ahh, I had the same question and had just posted in another thread. All my refreshed 2021 S Plaid handles seem to do this.
So it seems it is somewhat common. I will update my other post and not schedule anything with my SC as I'd rather take the change of them making it, or something else worse....

 

[WilliamG]

Three of my door handles on the refresh S light up the ground evenly next to the car. The rear passenger door doesn't quite make it out far enough to do so, though a visual inspection doesn't show anything amiss (I doubt many people would even notice). Who even knows...? Certainly not a big deal enough to have Tesla mess with the door card etc.

 

[Bull]

Three of my door handles on the refresh S light up the ground evenly next to the car. The rear passenger door doesn't quite make it out far enough to do so, though a visual inspection doesn't show anything amiss (I doubt many people would even notice). Who even knows...? Certainly not a big deal enough to have Tesla mess with the door card etc.

Mine don't light the ground except when pulled out. Are your handles flush with the door surface? I just measured mine and they are 2.5 - 3.5mm inset. Would certainly look better if actually flush and they would then light the ground when they present.

When I asked abut the same problem on my 21 LR+ they said they are all that way and that wind noise gets worse when they are flush.

 

[WilliamG]

Mine don't light the ground except when pulled out. Are your handles flush with the door surface? I just measured mine and they are 2.5 - 3.5mm inset. Would certainly look better if actually flush and they would then light the ground when they present.

When I asked abut the same problem on my 21 LR+ they said they are all that way and that wind noise gets worse when they are flush.

Mine all light the ground when just sitting in the unlocked position. They’re all pretty flush when closed, yes. Just the rear passenger door lights the ground a little further away than the others do. The others illuminate the ground closer to the door itself.

 

[jeff1323]

I don’t recall the LEDs on the door handles being able to light the ground at all.

They are only meant to illuminate the handles.

This is correct. They don't illuminate the ground, that is what the doors do when you open the door. The handles just illuminate where you are to grab the handle and where the handle should be when looking for it in the dark.

 

[yayarearunner]

Mine don't light the ground except when pulled out. Are your handles flush with the door surface? I just measured mine and they are 2.5 - 3.5mm inset. Would certainly look better if actually flush and they would then light the ground when they present.

When I asked abut the same problem on my 21 LR+ they said they are all that way and that wind noise gets worse when they are flush.

Mine are like this! I have a June Week 26 Build Car. All of them are inset by my guess what you have, only when you open it does the handle led pipe become flush with the door plane.

 

[Bull]

I am adding this to my list for the SC to fix. Hopefully they will try this time. Hearing that some people have essentially flush handles that seem to light what I would consider properly means that they are not all that way. Will be a couple weeks but will try to post results.

FWIW my VIN has a build date of June 3rd.

 

[JustJoshingYou]

Can confirm none of mine light up the floor. However I really wish they added LEDs to the door step trim where it says MODEL S. Would be a simple addition to make it pop at night similar to how BMW/Mercedes does it.

 

[GroovaEV]

Mine don't light the ground except when pulled out. Are your handles flush with the door surface? I just measured mine and they are 2.5 - 3.5mm inset. Would certainly look better if actually flush and they would then light the ground when they present.

When I asked abut the same problem on my 21 LR+ they said they are all that way and that wind noise gets worse when they are flush.

Some of mine are also inset more than others and not flush when closed. I've come to the point where I'm almost done looking for issues and dealing with what I got as long as the major cosmetic or drivability issues are resolved. It is hard to let little things go though when you pay this much.

But being my second Tesla, I'm somewhat used to it and as soon as I drive it all the little things don't matter one bit. It's a BLAST! and that's what's it's all about for me. Enjoyment.

 

[WilliamG]

Some of mine are also inset more than others and not flush when closed. I've come to the point where I'm almost done looking for issues and dealing with what I got as long as the major cosmetic or drivability issues are resolved. It is hard to let little things go though when you pay this much.

But being my second Tesla, I'm somewhat used to it and as soon as I drive it all the little things don't matter one bit. It's a BLAST! and that's what's it's all about for me. Enjoyment.

Can confirm none of mine light up the floor. However I really wish they added LEDs to the door step trim where it says MODEL S. Would be a simple addition to make it pop at night similar to how BMW/Mercedes does it.

Mine all light the ground.

 

[GroovaEV]

Mine all light the ground.

Wow, yeah, mine are definitely not like that....

 

[WilliamG]

Wow, yeah, mine are definitely not like that....

It's definitely handy at night when you're parked in the middle of a pitch-black field (like I was last night!), but honestly - probably not worth it for the regular street/garage parkers to mess with to fix if it's not quite right.

 

[r3nd3r]

Mine all light the ground.

did you use a long exposure for this? mine aren't this bright at all... i'll take a photo later

 

[WilliamG]

did you use a long exposure for this? mine aren't this bright at all... i'll take a photo later

It was pretty dark out, so yes this was a longer exposure, but they definitely illuminate the ground. No question.