Opening rear doors without power

[Trnsl8r]

OK, I brought this up not so much to explore the best way to get out of a submerged car, but rather in wonderment over how the front doors' internal handles can operate without power and the rear doors' cannot.

 

[jerry33]

OK, I brought this up not so much to explore the best way to get out of a submerged car, but rather in wonderment over how the front doors' internal handles can operate without power and the rear doors' cannot.

Basically it's a cost saving feature. The front doors have extra hardware to enable them to do so.

 

[cinergi]

Basically it's a cost saving feature. The front doors have extra hardware to enable them to do so.

The doors are designed differently. The front doors latch in the door. The rear doors latch in the FRAME around the door. The door handle *cannot* be wired with extra hardware to allow them to open like the front doors do in the event of a power loss.

 

[Trnsl8r]

The doors are designed differently. The front doors latch in the door. The rear doors latch in the FRAME around the door. The door handle *cannot* be wired with extra hardware to allow them to open like the front doors do in the event of a power loss.

Wow, color me impressed - that was very perceptive and shamefully I have to admit I hadn't thought of that. And after a trip to Santana Row today I can confirm this. Also unintentionally illustrated from this picture on another thread.

 

[cinergi]

Dont' give me too much credit :smile: -- I didn't notice it. One of the Tesla employees described it to me in detail when I asked about opening the doors in the event of a power loss.

 

[widodh]

The doors are designed differently. The front doors latch in the door. The rear doors latch in the FRAME around the door. The door handle *cannot* be wired with extra hardware to allow them to open like the front doors do in the event of a power loss.

But there could be a (additional) handle in de front door which forces the lock open.

From a design point they probably didn't want it, but technically it's possible.

 

[mknox]

On a related note (and rather than starting a new thread), do the doors on Model S actually lock, or is it simply protected by the fact that the door handles retract? Most car doors when locked simply disengage the handle from the latching mechanism, but I'm wondering how Model S does it.

If someone took a screwdriver and pried the handle out, could they get into the car?

 

[mnx]

I would think it's handled by software...

If the car is locked then do not engage solenoid when handle pulled....

On a related note (and rather than starting a new thread), do the doors on Model S actually lock, or is it simply protected by the fact that the door handles retract? Most car doors when locked simply disengage the handle from the latching mechanism, but I'm wondering how Model S does it.

If someone took a screwdriver and pried the handle out, could they get into the car?

 

[mknox]

I would think it's handled by software...

If the car is locked then do not engage solenoid when handle pulled....

I would imagine that's true, but it was reported earlier in this thread that the front doors have a mechanical over-ride in case of power failure (the back doors do not). So if someone pried the front door handle out and pulled, would the door open? My current car has solenoid-activated doors with mechanical over-ride but you can pull on the handle all you want when locked and the door won't open because the mechanical link is disconnected when locked.

 

[cinergi]

But there could be a (additional) handle in de front door which forces the lock open.

From a design point they probably didn't want it, but technically it's possible.

I'm not sure about that. So what I mean is there's *no latch* in the rear door. It's the reverse of a normal mechanism. There's only a hook on the door itself. There's nothing to unlatch at the door. The unlatching must be done within the frame that surrounds the door.