Has anyone else had the door handle retract just as you've got your fingers are grabbing it? It's a painful experience that left a mark on my finger for a few days. I think what happened is that my wife had the fob in her purse, and was walking in the house as I was opening the door to grab something. At the exact moment I had my fingers under the handle and was about to pull, they retracted on me. They came right back out to release me from the neo-chinese finger trap I found myself in. It's only happened the one time, thankfully!
Door handle pinched my hand while retracting
- Thread starter MileHighMotoring
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- Model S User Interface
ra-san
Member
Yeah, it's happened when I delayed using the handle for whatever reason, and happened to finally get to it right as the car was timing out and retracting the handles. Somewhat painful, and definitely startling. I don't get distracted and dally as much after that 
As many sensors as are in the car, I was kind of surprised there wasn't a sensor for object presence in the handle, and that the force it put out before stopping was as much as it was. Glad it did at least stop though.
As many sensors as are in the car, I was kind of surprised there wasn't a sensor for object presence in the handle, and that the force it put out before stopping was as much as it was. Glad it did at least stop though.
trils0n
2013 P85
Hmm, I've done that on purpose to see what happened. Didn't hurt at all, no marks. The retraction and springs seem pretty soft and benign. Maybe you yanked your hand in a way that hurt in response to the surprise of the handle retracting?
Interesting. Has the door handle design changed from the early versions? In my early production 'S, if a door handle retracts with a hand inside, one can keep it open under (not very strong) spring tension, though the door stays locked.
Thanks for the info.
Oliver
Thanks for the info.
Oliver
deonb
Active Member
Yeah, same with me. The spring is pretty soft.
Same here too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K-Ldi5HyWw
But these are all 2013 cars. I wonder if the new door handles are more "aggressive"?
Zextraterrestrial
P1538
AllenWong
Member
No. I have the P85D and the door handle is the same as yours. It retracts until it senses a hand in the way and then stops to let you pull it out. The pain is probably equal to putting a textbook over your fingers. The only real way that I think someone can get hurt is if he leaves his finger tips at the very edge and the door handles pinch his flesh/skin because they didn't sense the bones that would otherwise have stopped the handles from retracting.
Incredulocious
LEAF → RAV4EV → Model 3 → Model Y
Yeah, that would be nice to see: a sensor there as in other cars. For example, this is how you cause the RAV4 EV to unlock. Reaching in to grab the handle unlocks the car (when the key fob is nearby, of course). It senses your hand without you making any contact with either the handle or the door panel.
I would imagine having it try to close on your fingers would be a little off-putting, even if it doesn't cause harm.
deonb
Active Member
That would definitely be a change if that's the case.
My door handle doesn't have a sensor that stops the retraction - I just tried it again. The motor always just rewinds all the way, regardless of obstacle or not.
The reason it doesn't hurt you is because it's retracting a spring.
It's very obvious that the retraction doesn't stop, because if you let go of the handle after retraction, it will "spring" back shut all the way, without the retraction motor spinning up again.
EDIT: Oh, also, I tried pinching the tip of my little finger in it. It doesn't hurt even remotely. Like regoapps mentioned, it's like putting a book on your fingers.
I've had handles retract on me a few times, never had my fingers pinched or hurt in any way. It's a very soft, painless experience.
David99
Active Member
I've done it on purpose several times. There is no way it hurts or even leaves a mark. Same with the glass roof. It senses a finger or hand and stops right away
thecloud
As rhythm raced inside, the ship came alive
This also happened to me, on the second or third day that I had the car and was still unfamiliar with it. I remember that I approached the car in the garage and its handle did not extend, so I pressed on the handle. That didn't produce any immediate results, so I pressed the fob which I was holding in my other hand. Meanwhile the car's handle started to extend, and I put my hand into it, but then it instantly retracted again because I had pressed the fob. It pinched my fingertip as I tried to remove my hand, and it was painful (much more force applied than just "putting a textbook over your fingers".) I chalked it up to a learning experience and will never again press the fob with my hand (or anyone else's) inside the handle.
Your experience may be different, and I'm glad that it didn't hurt you. Just sharing my experience with this.
Your experience may be different, and I'm glad that it didn't hurt you. Just sharing my experience with this.
deonb
Active Member
I think that's because you tried to pull it out at an angle rather than just pulling open the handle again. Same think would happen if you put your fingers in an open drawer and close it lightly on your hand - pull your hand out fast and at an angle and it can scrape and hurt. Just open the drawer again, and no harm done.
Electric700
Active Member
I think it does have some kind of a sensor because if I am near the car and I have the key, and the door handles retract after the timeout, I can simply touch the handle and it will extend again, allowing me to open the door. May be just a software update is needed.
mikeash
Active Member
Just pitching in my own experience, my car was built in February and the handles are as described here. It's so soft that when the handles close on me, it's hard to realize what's going on, and I get a little confused about why the door isn't opening.
The pain was before I pulled away as I didn't even know they were retracting until I yelped. I'm sure it was a freak incident but it definitely pinched me in there for a moment and it wasn't pleasant.
Cyclone
Cyclonic Member ((.oO))
Yeah, me too. Ironically, I was in the parking lot of my local Tesla store!
This has happened a couple time to me over the last two weeks. I'm still trying to determine if it's user error and thus, I haven't asked my local service center about it yet. Usually around times when I don't immediately pull the handle to open the door and I pull when it's timing out. Then I have to ultimately pull my handle out, let the handle spring-close, push it so it extends, then open the door.
Khatsalano
Member
This has happened to me quite a few times. I would describe the pain as moderate. I tolerate it because self-retracting handles just look too darn cool. The fix is simple ... like the Prius, there should be an IR sensor on the inside.
- K
- K
I don't think the Prius uses IR sensors. I believe it's a capacitive strip behind the handle.
Unfortunately, http://john1701a.com/prius/presentations/2004-prius_tech-presentation_15.htm only mentions antenna and touch sensor.
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