Crunch! Falcon Wing Doors fail to sense obstacle

[X Girl]

Was curious what the manual would say about FWD's and here it is....
Warning: Model X falcon wing doors have several sensors to detect the presence of an object in the door's path. In most cases, when an object is detected, the door stops moving. However, the sensors are unable to detect all areas under all circumstances, particularly when closing, Therefore, you must monitor the movement of falcon wing doors to ensure the door's path of movement is free of obstacles, staying prepared at all times to proactively intervene to stop the door from contacting an object (including a person). Failure to due so can cause serious damage or bodily injury.

 

[systemcrashed]

Maybe in future iterations that could have a metal leading edge on that side of the window - so all the glass is 'framed'. It could look ugly though but it could provide protection in case sensors miss objects.

The pressure sensor in the door would stop the door once it hits something, but having vulnerable glass as a leading edge will turn tiny love taps into expensive outings.

I was thinking Tesla could engineer an additional sensor on that exact part closer to the hinge maybe even under the glass, in order to detect the unforeseen beam or pipe when the ceiling height has adequate height.

 

[proven]

Again, not to beat a dead horse, but what a terrible, TERRIBLE idea those doors were. Time to abandon them now. They're gonna suck every dime out of Tesla (repairing/fixing them). They need to stop deliveries for a few months and retool. It hurts, but there's no sense in prolonging the misery. Every Model X that ships is more money wasted for Tesla.

A few months to retool? I'm pretty sure you're not that slow. First of all, the entire car is engineered around those doors, the openings and all the support structure in the frame. To remove the doors would mean a total redesign. Secondly, many of us love those doors for practical purposes--not just the cool factor. A few doors damaged does not a poor design make.

 

[Aljohn]

Sorry to hear about the damage and hope it is minimal. Owners are measuring the clearance to their garage ceilings and opening railings to ensure they doors don't hit them, I think we all have to "look up" in any garage before opening -- a new paradigm. The sensors seems to "see" what is adjacent and above to the vehicle and calculates and opening scenario. The issues posted all seem to be marginal conditions -- especially edges that the sensors may not recognize as an object. The "warning" in the Owners Manual -- the sensor can not detect all potential obstructions and informs the owner to check the surroundings and monitor the doors opening --- the same we would do before opening a conventional door.

 

[McRat]

Just curious, what is true minimum overhead clearance for an X?

 

[eye.surgeon]

Falcon wing doors will be seen in the future as a rare mis-step by a very successful and smart company. This picture will be one of many fail photos in the future. Condolences to the owner. Be prepared for a lot of "you're doing it wrong" comments, aka Steve Jobs telling us we were holding our iphones wrong.

 

[Aljohn]

According to the Wiki here, it is 90" with the suspension set on low.

 

[Vitold]

If Tesla wants to put burden on the driver to mind for obstacles (as the manual suggests) they should add two things:

1. Better way to control how the FWd opens. Perhaps an extra button to open FWd partially. For example, if one is not sure if doors can be opened safely -open them half way and then open in 5" increments if there's still room to do so.

2. Overhead camera, similar to rear view camera so it's easy to spot obstacles.

 

[electricity]

Theres a thing called common sense. Make sure its clear to open the doors. You do it sideways now, why not look up and be smart about the kind of car you have ?

 

[hill]

Arrrghh. I want a custom made MX without the falcon doors.

Let me know how that works out for you Bill .

 

[Dr ValueSeeker]

Tesla should hand out measuring tapes to Model X buyers. Drivers can use that to measure the clearances before opening those doors in parking structures.
Since the sensor-based operations are not foolproof, a remote is also needed to slowly open the doors as desired.

 

[Blastphemy]

Theres a thing called common sense. Make sure its clear to open the doors. You do it sideways now, why not look up and be smart about the kind of car you have

There's also a thing called a warranty of merchantability (or perhaps an implied warranty of fitness would be more accurate?), whereby a company makes certain representations about its product on which consumers have to rely. One of those representations is Tesla's statements and demonstrations of the falcon wing doors, showing how well they avoid hitting obstructions without any human intervention. While Tesla may have some legal liability covered by the wording in its manual, if the public keep seeing accidents like this, you can be assured that Tesla will be blamed, not the moms and children innocently opening falcon wing doors into their open garage doors, overhead pipes, parking garage beams, tree limbs, poles, and signposts. If Tesla can't improve the sensors, they'd better get used to fixing all the damage for free to generate good will!

 

[Monkey]

OK, I'm two pages into this thread and have looked at the OP's images a couple times. I know this has to be frustrating and upsetting, but why would you even open that door in that situation? Sorry, FoxXxy, what were you trying to accomplish? Or did you not see the low hanging beam?

There are sensors in the FWDs that are intended to avoid collisions. However, it seems that shapes like this confound the doors. As I understand it, the sensors in the doors are all located facing outward, below the windows. Given the close proximity of the beam and the sensor angle, I would surmise that the collision detection saw no reason to stop until it was too late and then stopped from resistance, too late for the window glass and surrounding trim.

IMO, the biggest issues with the FWD's are not the physical design or operation, but the size combined with that assurance of them detecting a potential hazard. Having spent plenty of time in other cars with gull wing or other vertical opening doors, I can say that most people get a feel for them. Just as regular car doors require us to have a feel for how far we let them swing out. And even that isn't without problems as people regularly open doors into cars and other objects next to them. Most of those cars I've spent time with that have vertically operating doors, are usually built much lower to the ground and are not the size of a mid-to-large SUV.

Really, it's great the doors have the sensors in them. And the sensors seem to do an outstanding job of detecting objects immediately to the side of the car -- like another car. Other than that, I would recommend not opening the FWDs unless there is proper headroom to do so. They seem to adjust to overhead objects and obstructions in the form of low ceilings, but garage door rails, low-hanging beams and other such things don't always register with the sensors.

Like others here, I would definitely like to know what Tesla's stance is on this incident. I'm sure they would like to have sensor data, if it can be obtained, and to run a full diagnostic on the car when it is repaired. Perhaps they can use this incident to make the doors better. But the engineer in me keeps looking at FoxXxy's first picture while saying "why would you open your door under that?"

EDIT> Oh... Your "doofus" husband opened it. Haha. I'm often accused of being a doofus husband as well. Anyway, please don't take my post as seeming to be insensitive. I just tend to be analytical much of the time. And so sorry about your car. I feel your pain while I still await delivery of mine.

 

[vandacca]

@Monkey, I'm sure FoxXxy's husband would say that hindsight is 20/20

 

[Monkey]

Hindsight usually is that. And sorry for the tone of my post. It was written written out of pain and confusion while cringing from what I saw in the pics.

 

[Todd Burch]

Sorry this happened.

For those who think that it is Tesla's responsibility to pay for the repairs...sheesh, seriously? If you open the hatch of the Model S, is it Tesla's fault if it hits your garage while opening? The manual explicitly addresses this. Just because a door has some sensors does not abdicate the operator from using common sense (no offense to the OP--accidents happen).

For those who believe this means the doors were a terrible idea...really? If you open a regular car door and accidentally hit a column in a parking garage when you get out, does that make regular car doors a terrible idea too? Should all car doors be boring minivan doors?

A parking garage is one place in particular one should just be careful about opening falcon wing doors, just like a parking garage with a column right next to the parking space is a place where I am careful to open my "regular car doors".

It's like our society has decided to dumb itself down and not take responsibility for its own actions! C'mon folks, try to think like responsible adults who can afford a $100k+ car... (Not referring to the OP here, but to those with the idea that this is Tesla's fault or that this is a design flaw).

 

[nienco2]

C'mon folks, try to think like responsible adults who can afford a $100k+ car... (Not referring to the OP here, but to those with the idea that this is Tesla's fault or that this is a design flaw).

The apologists for these doors can't respect some very valid opinions that these doors are a needless extravagance for many. For some they're awesome, I get it. But really such a condescending tone is uncalled for. So the doors let you park within inches of cars next to you, but make parking decks and garages hazard zones. That's a pretty annoying trade-off imo, and is giving me pause.

 

[Subhuman]

Sorry this happened.

For those who think that it is Tesla's responsibility to pay for the repairs...sheesh, seriously? If you open the hatch of the Model S, is it Tesla's fault if it hits your garage while opening?

Hatch and doors don't have sensor that are suppose to prevent this very thing from occurring. If we use this logic then why even bother putting the sensor in the FWD. Just make the user responsible for monitoring the door in every situation. That is what a lot of people seem to be suggesting in this thread.

 

[Drivin]

I agree with you, but trying to give @Drivin the benefit of the doubt, maybe what he meant is that he dislikes the fact that the sensor placement makes the doors ineffective at dealing with situations such as the OP's.

Yes exactly.

 

[Todd Burch]

The apologists for these doors can't respect some very valid opinions that these doors are a needless extravagance for many. For some they're awesome, I get it. But really such a condescending tone is uncalled for. So the doors let you park within inches of cars next to you, but make parking decks and garages hazard zones. That's a pretty annoying trade-off imo, and is giving me pause.

Did they buy the car? If they didn't want to deal with manually stopping the door to prevent damage, they shouldn't have bought the car. If they bought the car in spite of it, fine. But that still doesn't make it Tesla's fault.

I can respect the opinion that some believe the doors are a needless extravagance. I actually didn't mention that at all in my post. What I cannot respect is that someone has an accident with operation of the door, and many feel it is someone else's fault--despite the warning specifically addressing this issue in the manual.

Sorry, not apologizing for a thing I said.