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Model 3 rear door no unpowered emergency release safety
- Thread starter powerzone1111
- Start date
There are several threads about this dating back to 2017/2018. To open the doors from the outside without breaking something in the event of a dead 12 volt battery, you have to pop the frunk with a jump pack on the emergency release wires as described in the owner’s manual, then jump the main 12 volt battery. The car will boot and you can unlock and open the doors normally (keycard or phone key).
So basically, if someone were trapped inside and unable to operate the emergency latch you'd have to call the fire department if you didn't have a jump pack available. This is not good at all. How hard would it have been to provide an emergency entry method that didn't require a jump pack that most ordinary people don't have? (For a car that normally never needs a jump!)
In your scenario, it would functionally be no different than trying to extract an unresponsive person from a locked car with regular, mechanical door handles. You’d have to break a window, Slim Jim or pry the door open.
No quarrel there. It just seems to me that a car this advanced should be able to have a better way. I expect more from the best car on the road.
In the old days, there was no electricity involved in unlocking a car. If you had the key, you could open the car. Didn't matter if the battery was dead. Then from the inside you could pop the hood. Again, no electricity was involved. Technology has made a lot of things a lot better, and a few things worse.
Gauss Guzzler
Safety Score = 42
I dunno, "in the old days" the medics didn't have the keys to your car. So if you were unresponsive inside with locked doors they'd have to break a window just like today.
I think the tow-hook jump start is intended for errant mechanics who have disconnected the battery and then closed the doors, not emergency responders. If you've somehow lost power in a Tesla whilst simultaneously losing consciousness, maybe your time is just up.
I think the tow-hook jump start is intended for errant mechanics who have disconnected the battery and then closed the doors, not emergency responders. If you've somehow lost power in a Tesla whilst simultaneously losing consciousness, maybe your time is just up.
This whole thing started for me because someone on another forum posted the image I showed in my OP, singling out Tesla and asking "How is this legal?" I guess I didn't think it through before coming here to ask if it was true. Thanks to everybody who replied. Especially to Big Earl for reminding me of what I knew three years ago, but had forgotten, about the emergency bypass to get into the car.
Gauss Guzzler
Safety Score = 42
By the way, the wire in the tow hook cover simply triggers the hood latch so that you can reconnect or repair the 12V system. It only works if the 12V system is dead/disconnected and only opens the hood by powering the latch directly, not by booting any computers.
Indeed - I guess I wasn't clear on that. It just provides access to the main 12 volt battery, which needs to be jumped in order to wake up the car and unlock the doors.
I think you were clear. Gauss was a bit more detailed.
How far gone would the 12-v battery have to be for you to be locked out of the car? Or unable to start it once in? And I thought that the computer is always on unless you make it reboot by a confusing procedure with the steering wheel buttons. Do I need to replace the 12-v battery periodically so I don't get locked out?
Battery life seems to be highly variable but I believe Model 3s are holding up pretty well. Ours is, at least. The car might throw low battery warnings when is time to replace it, or it could be a surprise (hopefully not).
Here's hoping that he learned about the manual release and has practiced the use of them.It's the front door handle of the 3/Y that you should be concerned about. Even if you knew where the hidden, unmarked manual handle was at some point, you might not remember in a crisis. Fortunately EV's almost never lose power, unlike ICE cars which randomly go dead every few years.
75-year-old gets trapped in a Cadillac XLR, proves you should read the owner's manual
The emergency door release handle doesn't work if you don't know it's therewww.autoweek.com
Ideally the car would notify you of a failing 12V. The 3 seems to have little notice before failing compared to S and X models. For those far from CS or those who want to be proactive, there are options. Some buy a 3rd party battery, from MPP and others, that presumably lasts longer. Some buy a battery test system that connects to the 12V and works with an app on your phone via Bluetooth to log your battery’s health. Others stop by a SC and buy the $85 replacement as a backup, either carrying it around or just replacing the existing one. About 2yrs would be plenty cautious.
Me, I have a battery tester that I look at once a month; and I carry a 9V battery in my pocket, and have a lithium jump starter in the Frunk.
The 3 still has a 12v battery and a kind of cheap one at that. A bunch of early 3 owners, myself included, had the 12v fail about 2 years in. 12v battery fail = car losing power.
I have been locked out of my 3 by an unexpected 12v battery failure. Luckily it was in my garage, but it it has happened to folks in other locations. There was no notice the 12v was going bad like you might get in an ICE where the car gets harder to start. There is supposed to be notification by the computer, but obviously it is not foolproof. Computer screen was black, the screen is run by the 12v.
I had to pop the frunk with a jump starter then let the battery sit hooked up to a charger for a bit before the computer booted up. It then took another 30 minutes or so on the charger before the car would actually go into drive so I could get it out of my garage and into the street. By this point my 12v battery was stinking up my entire house like sulfur and I did not want that car parked in my garage while I waited for the tow.
I wouldn’t worry about replacing the 12v on some sort of schedule, we don’t have enough data yet to figure that out yet - the first batch of failures could have been a bad batch of batteries. I would just be prepared to deal with it once it happens, like if you own any other car. In the field, you could get a kind ICE stranger with jumper cables to help pop the frunk and power the battery until you can get access to the inside while you wait for roadside. Or maintain AAA and they can come provide a similar service, but quicker than Tesla most likely. I have AAA.
Out of curiosity have you verified this will pop the frunk? I have heard they do, but never tried it myself.
Hopefully you have the contacts covered on the 9V battery. I had an uncovered 9V battery in my pocket years ago with some spare change and a quarter caused a short-circuit. After a large pop and warm feeling coming from my pocket, I was able to quickly remove the hot battery before any damage was done.
We've tested and been able to open the frunk with a 9V on a Model Y. It should work on a Model 3 as well.
Indeed, when we first got our Model 3 the biggest hassle was warning passengers "The button! The Button! Don't pull up the handle to open the door."
(I was not aware the back seats did not have this). From what I read, the 12V battery problem seems to be more prevalent in hot weather? Us Canadians less concerned about it generally, although it does seem some 12V were randomly unreliable.
The recent news item about a Tesla crash and fire, with the occupants (or one of them) in the back seat, not the driver seat, makes me wonder if they were trapped in the car or the front door jammed shut or they did not know the emergency release. I assume wrapping the front end around a tree could disrupt the 12V system enough to disable the door electrics, and then the driver climbs into the back to try to escape that way before being overcome by smoke.
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