Crunch! Falcon Wing Doors fail to sense obstacle

[ohmman]

I view the falcon wing doors the same way. They are unique and have certain benefits, but they also require unique care in certain circumstances.

Fair enough. I'm assuming that you've operated them multiple times, considering the confidence with which you are speaking. If so, then we'll just have to disagree - my experience is not as clear-cut. I think the roof hinge complicates things. And I also have two kids who I have to trust to operate their own doors. I'm rooting for a software update that makes the sensors more robust.

 

[Skotty]

And I also have two kids who I have to trust to operate their own doors

In defense of the X design, you have the same thing with the typical CUV and SUV design with regular doors. The only reasonably safe door to let young kids operate is a sliding door, but the X isn't a van and a sliding door would be really awkward on a vehicle with a sloped roof line.

 

[ohmman]

In defense of the X design, you have the same thing with the typical CUV and SUV design with regular doors. The only reasonably safe door to let young kids operate is a sliding door, but the X isn't a van and a sliding door would be really awkward on a vehicle with a sloped roof line.

My kids have gotten in and out of my Model S for years, never hitting the adjacent car or a wall. Having their hand on a door and opening it provides very granular control. Having a door that opens at 3x their height, avoids obstacles most of the time, and obscures their view of what it's opening against, is a completely different situation. So I have to disagree, just based on my personal experience.

 

[Spidy]

Sheesh - just writing that made me hate the doors on my own Model X! It's like a friggin' production just to get out of the 2nd row, now. "Wait for cue... mark... driver has exited the vehicle... stand by... stand by... left side may exit... engage... stand by right side... stand by... right side hold... right side please exist on the left side... repeat, right should exit on the left."

...
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."
e.

 

[Drivin]

@FoxXxy. How did the driver explain the damage to the garage owners? Did he show them how the doors did this?

 

[Skotty]

My kids have gotten in and out of my Model S for years, never hitting the adjacent car or a wall. Having their hand on a door and opening it provides very granular control. Having a door that opens at 3x their height, avoids obstacles most of the time, and obscures their view of what it's opening against, is a completely different situation. So I have to disagree, just based on my personal experience.

Well you are a lucky man, my kids have damaged doors so many times that I always use the child locks now and never let them open their own doors.

 

[Skotty]

@FoxXxy. How did the driver explain the damage to the garage owners? Did he show them how the doors did this?

Has anyone ever really done this before? Who would even think to consider notifying the garage owner of some minor concrete damage? Well, other than Drivin. I'm super square, but even I wouldn't bother trying to notify the garage owners of this. If you damage something important, that's one thing. But this was just grinding down a concrete corner a little bit. Even if you could figure out who the garage owners are, they probably wouldn't care. They would be more annoyed that you were bothering them. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Drivin]

Who would even think to consider notifying the garage owner of some minor concrete damage? .

People who take responsibility for their actions?

They may not care, but if you damage something, let them make the call about whether or not they care.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

People who take responsibility for their actions?

They may not care, but if you damage something, let them make the call about whether or not they care.

Did I miss the post that mentioned any damage to the concrete? Or are we just making an assumption about tempered glass slowly making contact with concrete somehow damaging it, when clearly it was the glass that lost the fight?

 

[Drivin]

Did I miss the post that mentioned any damage to the concrete?

Yes. It is in the first post.
Where do you think that concrete on the top of the car came from? Pittsburg?

 

[Drivin]

People who take responsibility for their actions?

They may not care, but if you damage something, let them make the call about whether or not they care.

If you banged into someone's Model S, would you not say anything with the rationale that they have insurance and since they can afford an S, they should have the money anyway for minor fixes?

 

[JohnSnowNW]

Yes. It is in the first post.
Where do you think that concrete on the top of the car came from? Pittsburg?

That appears to be broken glass...from the clearly broken window.

 

[Skotty]

If you banged into someone's Model S, would you not say anything with the rationale that they have insurance and since they can afford an S, they should have the money anyway for minor fixes?

I think you are overreacting a little. It's a public parking garage. No one cares about the look of the concrete. It would be like having an accidental curb check and trying to notify the parking lot owner of the damage you did to their curb. Trust me, no one needs to worry about it. If it looked like there was real structural damage, that's one thing, but cosmetic damage is of no concern in this case.

 

[Krugerrand]

Pfft! Concrete needs love too.

 

[Superloud]

My condolences to the OP.

I have to agree with the commenters noting that the X simply does not seem suited to parking garages.

Hunting for a good spot in a parking garage is hard enough. I don't think most people want to have to park in 3 dimensions. Passing up spots that are either too narrow, OR too low. And it's not like *other* drivers will realize this. So your behavior may seem very erratic to others when you seemingly pass up a perfectly good spot for another.

Not commenting on who's responsibility it is. But, if it is the driver's responsibility, then the procedure of making sure no passengers (especially kids) touch their FWD buttons until the driver gives the 'go ahead' sounds like a pretty big headache.

 

[ModelXBoy]

Seriously guys, I think you all ignored my answer to this solution. If you use Umbrella Mode to open the FWD, the door does not go up completely, it flatten out instead. So give less raise on top and wider raise on the side, this way I think you can successful avoid the top obstacles since the sensor on the side can detect the side object and top is not raised that high so it won't touch the high beam.

 

[Superloud]

Seriously guys, I think you all ignored my answer to this solution. If you use Umbrella Mode to open the FWD, the door does not go up completely, it flatten out instead. So give less raise on top and wider raise on the side, this way I think you can successful avoid the top obstacles since the sensor on the side can detect the side object and top is not raised that high so it won't touch the high beam.

I thought about your suggestion, and my immediate thought was that parking garages are often very tight sideways (with concrete columns and closely neighboring cars) so I wasn't sure how well umbrella mode would work? This is an honest question, not an argument, as I don't have much first hand experience with MX.

 

[GoTslaGo]

Is there a child lock option on the FWD so that they are only able to be opened outside and on the primary screen? (maybe with a "hidden" manual over-ride in respect of bonnie's trapped in a car with child-lock experience).

I wonder if Tesla can set up a laser or light on the upward sensor(s) so that prior to opening the doors the driver or passenger can check to see if they will "see" an obstruction?

I don't have an X, but am interested in getting one, so trying to learn. OP thanks for posting! Sorry for the damage, and hopefully this will be the last of any problems you have...

 

[FoxXxy]

@FoxXxy. How did the driver explain the damage to the garage owners? Did he show them how the doors did this?

That appears to be broken glass...from the clearly broken window.

JohnSnowNW wins this round. Sorry, Drivin. Zero damage to the parking garage concrete. Not even a mark.

In defense of the X design, you have the same thing with the typical CUV and SUV design with regular doors.

I'm looking forward to you presenting some examples of other CUVs and SUVs that open their own upward-moving doors mechanically with a double-click of the keyfob, that sense surrounding obstacles and always stop before hitting them... except when your husband opens them.

"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."

Guess what else the manual says? "Note: Falcon wing doors open only when Model X is stationary." And yet there is at least one post on this forum about someone driving their car into their garage door frame with a falcon wing door open! A reasonable person would expect that since it's not possible to open the doors when the car is moving, ergo it should also be impossible to move the car when those doors are open. The manual version I have (7.1 Jan 19) doesn't state anywhere I can find that the car can be driven (at any speed) with the falcon wing doors open. And yet...

Manuals aren't perfect, and many people frequently discount some of the seemingly overblown warnings. For example, the Model X manual states, "Warning: Do not adjust seats while driving." I'm sure none of you have ever adjusted your seats while the car is in motion. (If Tesla truly felt that strongly about it, they'd have disabled seat adjustments while the car is in motion. That line was written by a lawyer worried about potential liability, not a safety officer.)

I'm also sure no one has a seatbelt pad on their strap, even though the manual states, "Warning: Never place anything between you and the seat belt to cushion the impact in the event of an accident." And I'm sure everyone keep both hands firmly on the wheel when AutoPilot is on and never get the warning beeps.

What does all that have to do with what happened to my car? Well, nothing really... apples to oranges. But I wanted to write it for the sanctimonious few who are so perfect that they never misjudge or misinterpret a function or feature, and feel the need to assert ad nauseam that the manual is a holy text from which one should never deviate. Sure, every operation of the car should be monitored closely by the driver and her passengers, but watching all the demonstrations Tesla has done that show how well the falcon wing doors avoid obstacles may have given many people the misplaced confidence that those doors are infallible. Now we know they're not.

Hopefully all the Model X mothers who don't read this forum have more "common sense" than some of you think my husband lacks, or there are going to be a lot more of these accidents. That was not a small obstacle above our car, and since neither I nor my husband is a physics professor or mechanical engineer, and we weren't able to evaluate our tricorder readings of the angular momentum fast enough, it didn't seem likely to either of us that something so large could be missed by the technologically marvelous falcon wing doors, regardless of the shape of the parking spot in relation to the direction of the two-foot-wide, 100-foot-long structural beam.

Getting back to factual and more important things, @FoxXxy - what firmware revision are you on? Might be worth tracking any changes to the sensor and door dynamics.

I have the most current firmware version, the one that downloaded and installed a few of days ago. Too lazy to check my app to tell you the exact number... sorry.

 

[Mark Z]

My Model X hatch spoiler hit an overhead carport beam today after opening the hatch. Scratched the center surface of the spoiler.

Thankfully, I had the spoiler covered in clear bra months ago. Maybe it will self heal. No damage to the spoiler or the paint.