Model X door "handles"

[CurrentRide]

How does the front door handle work? Is it a capacitive or pressure actuated button? If it is a capacitive button, it might play havoc with those ski trips to Tahoe, no?

Not that it affects me much in Charlotte, NC.

 

[pvogel]

It's a real button, 'clicks' in about .25 inches and springs back out to flush as the door pops open

 

[CurrentRide]

Thanks! I couldn't tell from the videos.

Lot's of little questions like this that require seeing the machine in the real world. Hopefully there will be one at a drive event or in the store that I can examine before I spend my kids college funds...

 

[vitaliy]

Do those still autopresent?

 

[andrewket]

Model X door "handles"

Do those still autopresent?

Nope. Front doors don't either. But the front doors auto open and close. I suspect this will be disabled by most people.

 

[ecarfan]

Do those still autopresent?

See @pvogel's post, two posts before yours. I believe that answers your question.

 

[Cyclone]

Nope. Front doors don't either. But the front doors auto open and close. I suspect this will be disabled by most people.

So if that is disabled, do it just pop a bit and you pull on the side of the door or something to open, like a traditional car's manual trunk? I guess it's a better release that won't wear like the S, but that latching mechanism now needs to "push" or spring a bit and I hope that doesn't because the new wear item with the doors!

 

[Discoducky]

Nope. Front doors don't either. But the front doors auto open and close. I suspect this will be disabled by most people.

Do the front doors pop open even when there is a car parked close? I'd be worried about door dings if opens to hit a side view mirror. That would be a bad ding.

 

[aija SigX 649]

I suspect that the design of the handles was meant to simplify and speed up the door opening process as well as potential cost reduction, not to mention all of the issues Tesla had with the auto-presenting handles on the model S. So, instead of two operations (open handle then open door) there is now just one operation (open door). The cost to auto-present the door handle is likely the same as auto-opening the door and the cost of the physical handle is likely much more then the plate/button. Also, the proximity sensors in the FWDs may also be in the front doors to control the amount of auto-swing and eliminate hitting nearby objects. I think with SW tweaks the experience will be perfected as well as user adjustable and disable-able. I for one am really looking forward to experiencing it for myself. :biggrin:

 

[supratachophobia]

Nope. Front doors don't either. But the front doors auto open and close. I suspect this will be disabled by most people.

I think they are learning from the notoriously unreliable model S door handles in some part revisions.

 

[JST]

It will be interesting to see how well this works in the snow and ice. Sometimes there's no substitute for leverage.

 

[Moparposterchild]

I would also imagine it's a solution to the scalding hot door handle issue on the S as well. This way they can keep the same chrome appearance without people having to grab and hold them when they're piping hot.

 

[1208]

Are the S's solid metal or chrome covered plastic?

 

[timf]

Are the S's solid metal or chrome covered plastic?

Given their heft and tendency to absorb solar heat, I would have to believe they are some type of chrome plated solid metal.

 

[Muaddid]

It will be interesting to see how well this works in the snow and ice. Sometimes there's no substitute for leverage.

Anyone have experience with this ? We had (another) solid freezing rain episode this morning and while I was pulling hard on my door handles to break it free, I was wondering how that would work for Model S/X (and most likely Model 3s) where the door handles are hidden or simply non-existant ?

 

[omarsultan]

Anyone have experience with this ? We had (another) solid freezing rain episode this morning and while I was pulling hard on my door handles to break it free, I was wondering how that would work for Model S/X (and most likely Model 3s) where the door handles are hidden or simply non-existant ?

There were a few of these videos of ice entombed doors bouncing around when the MS first came out. I would guess there are limits to the thickness of ice they can handle, but... Tesla Model S In Ice - YouTube

 

[JST]

There were a few of these videos of ice entombed doors bouncing around when the MS first came out. I would guess there are limits to the thickness of ice they can handle, but... Tesla Model S In Ice - YouTube

Yeah, but that's kind of a different thing--the amount of power you need to drive that handle through the ice is a lot lower than the amount you need to break the entire door free.

I'm curious about the mechanism, too. The actuator must be in the front, right? It doesn't just pop a latch and rely on spring tension to open, I assume. It must have some sort of powered actuator that opens and closes the door, correct? But the front of the door is the place with the least amount of leverage.

Anyone have pics of this setup?