A thought on the Model3 Door handles....

[M0DEL³]

Winter's in the Midwest include ice storms that can drop a significant ice layers. Think 1/4 - 3/4 of an inch thick - so I have concerns about the existing M3 door handle design. Not only would a good coat of ice make extracting the handle problematic, but even then, the handle does not look substantial enough to take the pull forces involved in then separating the frozen-stuck door from the car. Sometime that ice layer can be sufficient enough to require significant tugging to get the job done and to be honest the current M3 door handle design looks dainty enough that I wonder if the M3 risks being problematic during ice conditions in our area.

How well do you think this handle:

Will stand up to this kind of tugging?

It looks to me like a recipe that risks some broken door handles.

Constructive thoughts invited...

 

[JeffK]

My thoughts and experience with plenty of broken handles is that you should never yank on a handle like that. Typically wind will blow from one direction so the other side of the car might be a better option. Sometimes that doesn't work either and there are other options.

The only time it's a horrible problem is either at an airport parking lot or when you're in a hurry... For some reason if you're in a hurry or running late doors tend to freeze shut. haha.

 

[eSpiritIV]

Get the Cold weather package.....maybe it will have heated handles? What does the Model X or S have with cold weather package?

 

[Petra]

A door that's as frozen over as the one you posted poses a damage risk to just about any vehicle if you were to attempt to force it open. Given that Tesla is partial to frameless doors, I'd expect the risk of damage to be even higher... If anything, the Model 3 door handle design may act to prevent people from trying to force the doors open, thus avoiding damage--doesn't help you get to where you need to go, but that's another matter.

From the unveil event videos, it looks like the Model 3 doors are electromechanical--the initial pop that unlatches and opens the door is provided by some sort of actuator (like the S). I'm not sure how well such a system would perform if iced over...and if it relies on dropping the window a bit for clearance, then you're really in trouble. Has anyone tried to open the door of a C6/C7 Corvette after having been iced over?

Anyway, one solution could be to just fire up the Tesla app and crank the heater. The heater could probably loosen things up pretty quick. I know with the Model S that having the HVAC fans on high will actually cause air to be blown out around the retracting door handles (cools them off on a hot day).

 

[EcoHeliGuy]

Preheat car, or get auto presenting doors for your climate. Non tesla specific issue. But Tesla at least has options others don't.

 

[animorph]

So what have Model S owners been doing?

 

[Petra]

So what have Model S owners been doing?

one solution could be to just fire up the Tesla app and crank the heater. The heater could probably loosen things up pretty quick. I know with the Model S that having the HVAC fans on high will actually cause air to be blown out around the retracting door handles (cools them off on a hot day).

I don't get ice like that here but, if I did, kicking the heater on from my phone would be the first thing I'd do.

 

[Zaphod]

Already hashed to death in this thread.
Model 3 Door Handles - Here is how they actually work

My opinion, this is an overblown issue. While I may live in TX now, I've lived in WI for 30+ years and can count on one hand the number of times this would have even been remotely an issue. Honestly I've experienced more ice in TX than in WI. But it will usually melt in a few hours down here.

If the ice is thick enough for these handles to have issues, I'm sure conventional handles will have just as much of an issue. Besides if there is that much ice on your car, where are you going anyway? I'm sure the roads are just as bad.

 

[Zaphod]

So what have Model S owners been doing?

The self presenting handles are powerful enough to bust through the ice. If you follow the link in my previous post, someone posted a Tesla video about cold weather testing that shows how it works. I think the video is a couple pages in.

 

[Vitold]

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/video-ice-fighting-coating-could-protect-cars-airplanes

 

[Colsla]

Get the Cold weather package.....maybe it will have heated handles? What does the Model X or S have with cold weather package?

heated rear seats, heated wipers (not the actual wipers) heated steering wheel.
I might have forgotten a couple of featues since I dont own an S

 

[Demous32]

Already hashed to death in this thread.
Model 3 Door Handles - Here is how they actually work

My opinion, this is an overblown issue. While I may live in TX now, I've lived in WI for 30+ years and can count on one hand the number of times this would have even been remotely an issue. Honestly I've experienced more ice in TX than in WI. But it will usually melt in a few hours down here.

If the ice is thick enough for these handles to have issues, I'm sure conventional handles will have just as much of an issue. Besides if there is that much ice on your car, where are you going anyway? I'm sure the roads are just as bad.

I totally agree with you… I lived in Indiana 20+ years and snow/ice will prevent access to anything on four wheels, deal with it.

 

[JeffK]

The roads are usually bad but unfortunately sometimes there's not much of a choice. At risk of body damage I've pried doors open with ice scrapers for lack of anything else.