Auto present handles- What's the smart approach?

[Ken7]

An update on my front passenger door handle issue. The Tesla mobile unit came out today and realigned the door handle. It turns out the door handle was fine from a mechanical standpoint, but it was misaligned at the factory. What was particularly interesting was the tech (an excellent and knowledgeable service guy) said he had just come from the same repair on another S that was almost exactly my mileage and vintage (a brand new car).

He conjectured that someone at the factory, who does the adjustment on those doors, was not aligning these door assemblies properly.

At any rate the handle now works perfectly. I'm very impressed with the mobile service.

 

[Buster1]

He conjectured that someone at the factory, who does the adjustment on those doors, was not aligning these door assemblies properly.

Elon should fire that guy!!!

Too soon??

 

[Electricfan]

Keep in mind it's only expensive off-warranty if you get Tesla to do the repair work, and that's assuming a new handle mechanism is needed. Often it's not. You only need the micro-switch kit which is pretty cheap... or to be really cheap do the work yourself and repair the wires on the existing micro-switches... Costs nothing but your time. I made a video and another thread on that topic.

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It sounds like you are mechanical, so I'll ask you - would it be possible to somehow convert the door handles to plain old mechanical operation? I despise the door handles as they are now. I have auto present disabled (did this when I first got the car for exactly the reason this thread talks about)

Surely at some point somebody will design and sell a simple mechanical door handle for a Model S - they would become rich overnight.

 

[scottm]

You know, what really opens the door is a tiny micro switch closing which takes about 1mm of plunger movement.
There is no mechanical connection between the exterior handle mechanism and the door latch.

You need the handles to present so you have something to tug, otherwise you'd need to push the door open (a la model X).
Is a motor pushing the door any better or less error prone than a handle that presents and you pull? I dunno. Then both need a motor.

If you had "perma presented" handles that didn't go in and out all the time... say if the gear cog in each was busted off, and you reversed the tension of the retraction spring, to make it a protraction spring force, then you could reserve the last 1mm as the necessary tug space that plunges the micro switch.. But there are other micro switches in there that are monitoring for correct in/out operation so ... they'd all have to be spoofed. ... not worth it, I'd say.

 

[Blissedout]

I solved this problem with two profiles on the driver profile screen. One is called "exit" and one is "park." When I pull into my garage I select "exit." This lowers the seat, moves it back, and raises the steering wheel--all to make it easier to exit the car. This profile does not include walk away door locking (I don't need the car locked when it's safe in the garage) and it does not include auto present handles. That way when I enter the garage for some reason other than getting in the car, the handles don't unnecessarily present.
When I park the car away from home I choose "park. That also moves the seat and steering wheel, but also includes walk away door lock and auto present handles.

Brilliant!

I think I will do one for parking in places where I am concerned about car theft. And turn Passive Entry off. That makes it harder to steal cars this way: Just Two of These $11 Gadgets Can Steal a Car

 

[Blissedout]

Surely at some point somebody will design and sell a simple mechanical door handle for a Model S - they would become rich overnight.

They did. They cost $35,000 and have the Model 3 attached.

 

[Electricfan]

They did. They cost $35,000 and have the Model 3 attached.

I think they're going to be rich overnight too, if they can get production worked out. I really think they're going to sell all they can make for a long, long time. I hope they're making a profit on the low end models. I'd love to see Tesla start regularly turning a big profit. That would be awesome.

 

[scottm]

... I really think they're going to sell all they can make for a long, long time. ...

I hope not! I hope they can make more than they can sell. It will bring the price down more.

 

[Chaserr]

I just leave the fob in the car when parked in the garage. No auto-present issues, no auto lock, without disabling those features or changing profiles. I realize this isn't something everyone can do, but for me it's been perfect for the Tesla, and I have always done this with all my other cars anyway.

 

[masamitsu]

I solved this problem with two profiles on the driver profile screen. One is called "exit" and one is "park." When I pull into my garage I select "exit." This lowers the seat, moves it back, and raises the steering wheel--all to make it easier to exit the car. This profile does not include walk away door locking (I don't need the car locked when it's safe in the garage) and it does not include auto present handles. That way when I enter the garage for some reason other than getting in the car, the handles don't unnecessarily present.
When I park the car away from home I choose "park. That also moves the seat and steering wheel, but also includes walk away door lock and auto present handles.

Beej - I would assume based on this you have a 3rd profile "drive" to put the seats back etc back to driving position.

 

[Chaserr]

I don't do this, but assuming you take the fob with you, wouldn't your fob's assigned driving profile take care of that when you return to the car automatically?

 

[beej]

Beej - I would assume based on this you have a 3rd profile "drive" to put the seats back etc back to driving position.

Correct. Actually my wife and I each have our own driving profiles to set up the seat, steering, etc. to our requirements which we select when we get into the driver's seat.

don't do this, but assuming you take the fob with you, wouldn't your fob's assigned driving profile take care of that when you return to the car automatically?

I guess so. I think this feature was added after I got my car. I've never looked into it, and what I've got works well for us--maybe someday I'll try it. I wonder what would happen if both my wife and I both got into the car at the same time and each of us was carrying our own fob. Is the car smart enough to know which fob is on the driver's side?

 

[masamitsu]

Correct. Actually my wife and I each have our own driving profiles to set up the seat, steering, etc. to our requirements which we select when we get into the driver's seat.

Perfect. Thanks!

 

[Blissedout]

I guess so. I think this feature was added after I got my car. I've never looked into it, and what I've got works well for us--maybe someday I'll try it. I wonder what would happen if both my wife and I both got into the car at the same time and each of us was carrying our own fob. Is the car smart enough to know which fob is on the driver's side?

No. My experience is the first keyfob in the car gets the profile. Also when it is set to my profile and I leave the car, after a while it will switch to my wife's profile if her keyfob remains in the car. And the profile does not always switch to the keyfob entering the car, even when there is only one keyfob entering the car. So some software glitches remain.

 

[Blissedout]

Brilliant!

I think I will do one for parking in places where I am concerned about car theft. And turn Passive Entry off. That makes it harder to steal cars this way: Just Two of These $11 Gadgets Can Steal a Car

I found this does not work. The Passive Entry setting is not saved with the profile.

 

[llirk]

Perfect. Thanks!

I noticed that if you use this exit profile and have it plugged in, the in dash display stays on. Any way to avoid this as I wouldn't want the display on all night while charging?