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Just a heads-up to everyone on this chain... I wrapped my door handles a few weeks ago with a carbon fiber wrap. I made the wrap so it would also cover the inside of the door handles. It makes a huge difference even when the car has been out in direct sunlight for hours... no more scalding hot door handles burning my kids hands!
There is another discussion about the wrap in THIS THREAD... I just wanted to chime in on this thread since I found that it made such a big difference. If you don't care for the wrap, no worries... just cut a few rectangles (4" x 1.25") of 3M film to line the inside of the door handles.
There is another discussion about the wrap in THIS THREAD... I just wanted to chime in on this thread since I found that it made such a big difference. If you don't care for the wrap, no worries... just cut a few rectangles (4" x 1.25") of 3M film to line the inside of the door handles.
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Discovered the first thing I dislike about my MS...
If you park your car outside in the sun, the door handles can get HOT! In fact, I think I burned off some fingerprints yesterday when I went to open my S after an afternoon at the farmers market. Ouch. That said, I'm 100% sure I'm not the first one to discover this "design flaw", and as such I'm wondering if anyone has any solutions that doesn't require gloves?
If you park your car outside in the sun, the door handles can get HOT! In fact, I think I burned off some fingerprints yesterday when I went to open my S after an afternoon at the farmers market. Ouch. That said, I'm 100% sure I'm not the first one to discover this "design flaw", and as such I'm wondering if anyone has any solutions that doesn't require gloves?
Zybane
Member
Not sure why the door handle would get hotter than any other door handle. Especially since they are chrome and reflect more light..
roblab
Active Member
No, they get HOT!. My guess is that the handle can't reflect any heat back out, as it sits inside its little oven.
I have thought of using some type of heat resistant adhesive and gluing a strip of plastic on the inside of the handle so it wouldn't transmit that heat so quickly. Haven't tried it yet, though. I just know it will be hot (ish) and use a shirt tail or piece of paper, or something.
Hmm. It feels like I'm in a time warp. I see this post every several months or so.
This is a well known problem. It is true. It is a fact. It is bad.
I hear that the Model X fixed this with non-auto-presenting handles: they are touch-based (like a touchscreen). There is, of course, a discussion here about that, too, including the issue of how to get in and out of the vehicle when the power doesn't work.
If you search for the many other times this issue has been posted here, I'm sure you'll find a lot of people who have come up with a lot of wonderful solutions to the problem. As you can see, already one person posted that you can remotely turn on the AC (which if memory serves is one of the top tier answers). In other threads, people post that they use various impromptu mittens to handle it (which doesn't meet your specification). But I seem to recall a few other good answers. Perhaps put a heat-tolerant plastic coating on it? I believe one good answer was akin to that.
I've requested this thread be merged with this old thread about the same topic Scalding Hot Door Handles!!
I have found that even on really hot days in the sun (110 degrees +) you can pull the handles quickly and avoid any discomfort whatsoever. The only discomfort I have found is when pulling AND holding on to the handles for an extended time period. This is not necessary. The other option as mentioned by the OP is to turn the AC on prior to arriving to the car. This works well at taking 50% or more of the heat from the handles.
Khatsalano
Member
It gets really really hot. It's an embarrassing engineering oversight because I've had guests love the car ... then that happens.
This also becomes a safety issue when a kid burns his or her hand. This moment is coming and some Tesla-shorting journalist will jump all over it. Hey, I'm not that smart compared to people whose job it is to anticipate these consequences. But for some reason, as safe as the car is, this safety issue has been deemed acceptable. Weird!
- K
This also becomes a safety issue when a kid burns his or her hand. This moment is coming and some Tesla-shorting journalist will jump all over it. Hey, I'm not that smart compared to people whose job it is to anticipate these consequences. But for some reason, as safe as the car is, this safety issue has been deemed acceptable. Weird!
- K
Cyclone
Cyclonic Member ((.oO))
Without discounting everyone's experiences, I must just luck out with how my the sun hits my car. Even when we were over 100 this summer in NC and the car sat out in the sun all day at work, the handles never got "burning" hot. A couple weeks ago, sitting out in Miami all day didn't produce the result either. I am not looking forward to when this finally shows up for me, but thankfully, I seem to be avoiding it for now!
Is your Model S dark or light grey? The light grey might never have an issue.
My first one was Pearl White, and the handles were never uncomfortably hot even on the sunniest/hottest days. When I got the blue, things changed. On a sunny day, they are near scalding.
They currently have xPel on the outside, but I'm going to see if xPel on the inside surface helps a little.
Zybane
Member
Not saying they don't get hot (haven't taken delivery), but it's much better to know why they get hot versus just simply observing that they get hot. Without looking close at the design, the only thing I can speculate on now is that the handle is receiving a lot of the heat from the surrounding door panel. A darker paint would make the problem worse. Does anyone know what the door handle is made out of? I'd assume aluminum?
My car is pearl white so maybe won't have as bad of an issue. :wink:
Cyclone
Cyclonic Member ((.oO))
Sasmania
Member
I'm in AZ...so this is a constant issue.
I fixed it a year ago with some simple black rubber foam from Michaels Dept store. You can buy it in sheets and it's about a millimeter thick. Simply cut the size you need and attach with a good waterproof glue. I like it better than Felt, as it's easier to clean and won't degrade. No need to waste energy cooling the car.
This has worked flawlessly for over a year, and still as good as the day I put it on. Worth a try if you have this problem...
I fixed it a year ago with some simple black rubber foam from Michaels Dept store. You can buy it in sheets and it's about a millimeter thick. Simply cut the size you need and attach with a good waterproof glue. I like it better than Felt, as it's easier to clean and won't degrade. No need to waste energy cooling the car.
This has worked flawlessly for over a year, and still as good as the day I put it on. Worth a try if you have this problem...
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