Can't get in

[Dan203]

My Dad use to have a Lotus Elise. He let me drive it once. I had to basically contort myself to get in and out of it. And I'm only 6' tall.

I had a little trouble getting in the Model 3 on my test drive, but only because the previous driver was like 4' tall and had the seat so far forward I could barely even sit down sideways. (I'm kinda fat, so need some room) Luckily I have experience with this as my wife is thin and likes to sit right on the dash so every time I get in her car I have to move the seat before I even sit down.

 

[ecarfan]

The way you get into the Roadster (original, not 2020) is to open the door, stand next to the car facing away from it, sit down, bring your arms in, then rotate your body to swing your legs in, knees bent to fit through the door. Then slide the seat forward if necessary.

I owned a Roadster for about four years. I found it fairly easy to get into, a bit harder to get out of.

The Model 3 is a breeze getting in/out compared to the Roadster.

 

[banned-66611]

As for the theme of the thread, I'm 6'1, 225 lbs, average inseam. I have Easy Entry set to push the seat back and down, and the steering wheel forward and up. I reach in with my right hand and grab the top of the wheel for support, then put my right foot in near the door and twist my leg knee out (knee towards the center console) so that it slides under the steering wheel. Then I sit and slide into the seat, and pull my right foot in. My knee clears the wheel by roughly two inches

That sounds like it's worth a shot. I think maybe I didn't want to put too much weight on the wheel, it not being my car and being worried about my hand slipping and hitting the gear selector.

I don’t understand what you are describing. If the car is in Park (as it would be in the showroom) and you press the brake with your foot as you are attempting to get into the car, nothing bad will happen.

Yeah. In the UK cars with the gear selector on a stalk by the wheel are very rare, almost all have the selector on the centre console. So I was worried about accidentally hitting it. I've hit the wipers on a couple of times before in other cars.

 

[ecarfan]

In the UK cars with the gear selector on a stalk by the wheel are very rare, almost all have the selector on the centre console. So I was worried about accidentally hitting it. I've hit the wipers on a couple of times before in other cars.

In all Teslas, if the car is in Park and you depress that stalk nothing will happen unless your foot is firmly on the brake. So when entering the car, unless you somehow simultaneously accidentally firmly press on the brake and move the gear stalk, the car will not move.

The gear stalk does not behave the same way a wiper stalk would behave if you hit it by accident.

 

[Dan203]

The Model 3 is a breeze getting in/out compared to the Roadster.

The roadster was based on the same Lotus my Dad had. That thing was terrible to get in and out of.

 

[Joshan]

at least in my experience, you have to put it into drive twice also. It ignores the first try. same for reverse (but this is only from park)

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

I've never driven a car with the gear selector on the steering column I didn't want to accidentally press the brake and knock it.

As others have mentioned:
1) The brake has to be pressed and held before you can put the car in Drive.
2) In addition, the Rollaway Protection is such that unless you're jabbing your foot onto the accelerator immediately after releasing the brake, if your seat belt is not on and the door is open, and you release the brake, the car will engage the parking brake within ~1-2 seconds and go back to Park. (The exact interlocks have been discussed in another thread before.) The Rollaway Protection is very good at making sure you don't accelerate the vehicle unintentionally (though there are still certain complex sequences which can result in unintended vehicle acceleration - don't go randomly stabbing the accelerator right after you hit the brake and put it in Drive!). The Rollaway Protection is superior to every other vehicle I own (as it must be, since it has no key and no engine sounds as audible cues).

If you actually want further help with this, I guess I would recommend you take a video of yourself (or have someone else take a video) of YOU getting into the Model 3. Sounds like all the constructive information possible has been provided already.

I have a 32" inseam (81cm) and I'm 5'9" (175cm) and I have no problem getting into the car. (Not surprisingly as I have very "typical" dimensions.) But my legs are longer than yours. Of course, I can also exit the passenger door from the driver seat if I need to, without difficulty. I'm 155-160 pounds, which is also a relevant factor here.

I would imagine other predictive test results might correlate with how easy it is for an individual to enter/exit Model 3 (or any arbitrary vehicle) as well.

For example:
Test of Sitting and Standing Predicts Mortality

 

[daniel]

I've hit the wipers on a couple of times before in other cars.

I've accidentally engaged the wipers in my Model 3. It's rather unsettling because I usually don't know how it happened.

at least in my experience, you have to put it into drive twice also. It ignores the first try. same for reverse (but this is only from park)

This is not my experience. I've never had to put it into Drive twice. The car is in Park when I get in. One click down for Drive or up for Reverse, move the foot from the brake to the go pedal, and the car goes.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

I've never had to put it into Drive twice. The car is in Park when I get in. One click down for Drive or up for Reverse, move the foot from the brake to the go pedal, and the car goes.

Occasionally I have this "double-pull" behavior. I can't pinpoint the exact reason for it. Sometime the car seems to be daydreaming - it may have to do with the speed at which you bring it out of its reverie. In addition, I use PIN-to-drive, so there may be some delay on the interlock. Like I said, it's hard to say.

It certainly isn't NORMAL to have to click down twice for Drive. And you can't count on that for safety. Rollaway Protection is very good for the OP's "concern" though.

 

[mongo]

Occasionally I have this "double-pull" behavior. I can't pinpoint the exact reason for it. Sometime the car seems to be daydreaming - it may have to do with the speed at which you bring it out of its reverie. In addition, I use PIN-to-drive, so there may be some delay on the interlock. Like I said, it's hard to say.

It certainly isn't NORMAL to have to click down twice for Drive. And you can't count on that for safety. Rollaway Protection is very good for the OP's "concern" though.

This.
If you try to engage drive before the car has fully woken up, it won't react. It may also need to see the brake pedal go from off to on.

 

[ecarfan]

The roadster was based on the same Lotus my Dad had. That thing was terrible to get in and out of.

The Tesla Roadster had almost no parts in common with the Lotus Elise. By the time the Roadster went into product Tesla had almost completely reworked the chassis and body and of course the drivetrain was all different. And Elon insisted that the door sills be lower than the Elise so it wasn’t as difficult to get in and out of.

See Mythbusters Part 2: The Tesla Roadster is not a Converted Lotus Elise

Quote: “So you could say that the Tesla is similar to a Lotus Elise, except it has a totally different drivetrain , body panels, aluminum tub, rear sub-frame, brakes, ABS system, HVAC and rear suspension. The Tesla also neglects to carry over the gas tank, emissions equipment and exhaust. If you were to try to convert an Elise to a Tesla and started throwing away parts that aren’t carried over what you would basically be left with a windshield, dashboard (complete with airbags!), front wishbones and a removable soft top.”

 

[Casmium]

When I first got my model 3 it definitely felt like it was difficult to get I to, at one point I hurt my knee and it just seemed impossible to get into it. After about a month that feeling completely went away and I've completely forgot about how hard I thought the car was to get into until I saw this post.
For reference, 5'11" about 320 lbs

 

[Dan203]

The Tesla Roadster had almost no parts in common with the Lotus Elise. By the time the Roadster went into product Tesla had almost completely reworked the chassis and body and of course the drivetrain was all different. And Elon insisted that the door sills be lower than the Elise so it wasn’t as difficult to get in and out of.

See Mythbusters Part 2: The Tesla Roadster is not a Converted Lotus Elise

Quote: “So you could say that the Tesla is similar to a Lotus Elise, except it has a totally different drivetrain , body panels, aluminum tub, rear sub-frame, brakes, ABS system, HVAC and rear suspension. The Tesla also neglects to carry over the gas tank, emissions equipment and exhaust. If you were to try to convert an Elise to a Tesla and started throwing away parts that aren’t carried over what you would basically be left with a windshield, dashboard (complete with airbags!), front wishbones and a removable soft top.”

Ahh... didn’t know that. I heard they were basically the same car and believed it. I never actually saw one in person or tried to get in/out of one.

 

[daniel]

The Tesla Roadster had almost no parts in common with the Lotus Elise. By the time the Roadster went into product Tesla had almost completely reworked the chassis and body and of course the drivetrain was all different. And Elon insisted that the door sills be lower than the Elise so it wasn’t as difficult to get in and out of.

See Mythbusters Part 2: The Tesla Roadster is not a Converted Lotus Elise

Quote: “So you could say that the Tesla is similar to a Lotus Elise, except it has a totally different drivetrain , body panels, aluminum tub, rear sub-frame, brakes, ABS system, HVAC and rear suspension. The Tesla also neglects to carry over the gas tank, emissions equipment and exhaust. If you were to try to convert an Elise to a Tesla and started throwing away parts that aren’t carried over what you would basically be left with a windshield, dashboard (complete with airbags!), front wishbones and a removable soft top.”

Ahh... didn’t know that. I heard they were basically the same car and believed it. I never actually saw one in person or tried to get in/out of one.

They look enough alike that in the early days I had people ask me if it was an Elise. Lotus may have re-worked a lot of the parts, but they built the new ones to a very similar design, at least as far as appearance goes. Of course, the Roadster is a lot quicker.

 

[hugh_jassol]

As others have suggested - step into the car, don't sit then swing your legs around (I honestly didn't know people did this).

 

[smatthew]

That sounds like it's worth a shot. I think maybe I didn't want to put too much weight on the wheel, it not being my car and being worried about my hand slipping and hitting the gear selector.



Yeah. In the UK cars with the gear selector on a stalk by the wheel are very rare, almost all have the selector on the centre console. So I was worried about accidentally hitting it. I've hit the wipers on a couple of times before in other cars.

I believe the cars in the showroom are in "Showroom Mode" and cannot be driven without deactivating showroom mode. So hit the gear selector all you want - nothing will happen.

 

[daniel]

As others have suggested - step into the car, don't sit then swing your legs around (I honestly didn't know people did this).

I actually find it much easier to sit and swing. But then I drove the Roadster for seven years.

 

[banned-66611]

As others have suggested - step into the car, don't sit then swing your legs around (I honestly didn't know people did this).

I can't do that. When I try to step in my leg gets caught between the seat and the steering wheel. I can angle my knee enough to overcome that, but then I don't have enough support to stoop down and get my head in. There is nothing to hold on to.

I realized that in one of my old cars that was quite low there was a hand grip that made it much easier to do.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

I can't do that. When I try to step in my leg gets caught between the seat and the steering wheel. I can angle my knee enough to overcome that, but then I don't have enough support to stoop down and get my head in. There is nothing to hold on to.

I realized that in one of my old cars that was quite low there was a hand grip that made it much easier to do.

Really you should just post a video of yourself for people to let you know if there is something you are missing.

Many people can support and balance themselves with one leg in the car and one leg out of it, regardless of the crazy angles, until they can relax their quads and lower their torso into the seat, without needing anything to hold on to. It’s a little bit like a squat position, and as I mentioned earlier it may depend on your ability to do certain things. (See link above.) But in that regard it is not different than many modern sedans.

If you are not able to do this, you could use your outside hand and friction brace it on top of the car along the curve of metal above the driver door. (Just grab the metal.) Or you could just trust-fall yourself right into the driver seat...

But those sound like kind of an extreme measures; it sounds like it just might not be the car for you.

If you are having issues holding yourself in the sort-of squat position, it may make sense to go for a crossover or more upright vehicle - like a Forester or a Highlander. Or even an Outback since it rides so high. (Or any other CUV with decent ground clearance.) These are easier for people with physical limitations to enter & exit - you don’t have to hold your butt quite as low, using your quads and your core.

And yes, the Model 3 is missing the handle that would be helpful for those that need to assist themselves in lowering their torso into the seat.

 

[banned-66611]

Thanks Alan. Unfortunately I don't feel like I can safely post a video after Electric Dream's stalking. Last thing I need is to give them more to work with.