Door Handle LED Lights partially hidden

[pgiralt]

I did a search and didn't find this discussed anywhere and I'm actually surprised. Has anyone noticed that because the "new" door handle design does not come out all the way, the LED floor lighting under the door handle is partially hidden inside the body of the car so you don't get as much light as you should be getting? If you pull the handle out a bit just before the door opens (so that the "inside" part of the handle comes out flush with the door panel), the lighting is much brighter.

Having never seen the old door handles that don't move, I'm going to assume that the old ones would always come out all the way with the inside part always being flush with the body of the car, so the lights illuminated completely, but when they redesigned them, they forgot to move the LED a little bit further out into the handle so it doesn't get obstructed. Has anyone else noticed this? Is TM aware of this? It's not a huge deal, but it would sure be nice if the LED was a little further out so that it illuminated better.

 

[ken830]

I've seen it mentioned before a couple of days ago. I can't find it though. But that guy seems pretty pissed about it too.. Personally, I don't see what the big deal is, the lights still work just fine. And the new handles are just way better. Give them a break. I'm sure they avoided redesigning every single part. Especially mechanical stuff that would require new tooling. I'm super-happy that they identify issues and monitor customer feedback, and then go and make real improvements.

 

[FlasherZ]

Having had both of them in my possession (I drove a new loaner for ~2 weeks), I have to say that I rather like the original handle behavior better myself - but to each his own. Once the handles were replaced to get rid of the random door opening episodes, I think it's more elegant to apply very light pressure to the door handles rather than having to pull them 1/8".

I did notice that the LED's are roughly halfway into the body when they're sticking out. But it's a place where Tesla can't really win. People complained about the door handles not moving enough (to give a feel of feedback), and so Tesla fixes it without a major part redesign, and now people complain a different way. If Tesla were to fix it so the light would be flush again but it would pull out, I'm sure someone would complain that the door handle, when pulled, goes past flush and sticks out by 1/8" of an inch. You can't win 'em all.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

I have 1 new door handle and 3 'classic' handles - I think Tesla did pretty awesome by redesigning the pull of the handles. Feels much more natural with the little give before the switch is activated. I do like the completely different feeling of the 'stiff' handles but the new style is pretty nice.

I haven't noticed a difference in lighting at night..

 

[caddieo]

How much light does one need anyway to be able to see and grab the door handle? All the ICE cars I've ever had since day 1 never had handle illumination, so while not perfect, this is still a significant amenity.

 

[Liz G]

Having had both of them in my possession (I drove a new loaner for ~2 weeks), I have to say that I rather like the original handle behavior better myself - but to each his own. Once the handles were replaced to get rid of the random door opening episodes, I think it's more elegant to apply very light pressure to the door handles rather than having to pull them 1/8".

I did notice that the LED's are roughly halfway into the body when they're sticking out. But it's a place where Tesla can't really win. People complained about the door handles not moving enough (to give a feel of feedback), and so Tesla fixes it without a major part redesign, and now people complain a different way. If Tesla were to fix it so the light would be flush again but it would pull out, I'm sure someone would complain that the door handle, when pulled, goes past flush and sticks out by 1/8" of an inch. You can't win 'em all.

FlasherZ +1

I'm in the "old door handles" camp as well. Hopefully I'll be able to keep mine for the life of my car.

 

[pgiralt]

How much light does one need anyway to be able to see and grab the door handle? All the ICE cars I've ever had since day 1 never had handle illumination, so while not perfect, this is still a significant amenity.

It's not really a matter of not having enough light. I noticed the problem because I thought the way the light was coming out of the handle looked strange to me. I have never actually seen the old door handles, so I have no idea how they looked. It was like most of the light is pointing at the car instead of the ground.

Again - this is not a huge deal. I like the way the handles themselves feel and I'm glad they made the change. I just wish they would have moved the LED's out a bit further into the handle to accommodate the change, that's all.

 

[Nikoli]

I prefer the classic handles as well, both the feel and the light output.