Should the door handles present when pressed on the back doors?

[xanatos]

Just to chime in, I did some experiments because I was experiencing same issue as OP, and confirmed OPs observations. There is a subtle nuance to it though, so let me explain:

1) if the car is LOCKED, and you have the fob in your pocket, and you try pressing on the REAR door handles, nothing will happen. The car won't unlock, and none of the handles will present. Only by pressing on the FRONT door handles will the car unlock and cause all the handles to present.

2) If the car is ALREADY UNLOCKED, then without the fob, you can press on ANY door handle and it will cause all door handles to present.

Settings when I did this experiment:
Auto present door handles: off (makes it easier to test this specific behavior)
Door unlock: all doors
Child lock: tried both on and off, results are same.

Hope that clarifies (or maybe confuses even more) this topic.

 

[bint2k]

What's stated here is totally correct. Apparently it's some safety issue, I just learned from Tesla. It would be super nice to be able to open the car doors if the fob is present when touching any door. Loading kids in the backseat becomes a bit of a pain when you need to push the front doors in order to open the back door. Generally I approach the car from the back, so the front sensors that detect the FOB can't figure out that I'm close to the car unless I first push the front door handles.

Just to chime in, I did some experiments because I was experiencing same issue as OP, and confirmed OPs observations. There is a subtle nuance to it though, so let me explain:

1) if the car is LOCKED, and you have the fob in your pocket, and you try pressing on the REAR door handles, nothing will happen. The car won't unlock, and none of the handles will present. Only by pressing on the FRONT door handles will the car unlock and cause all the handles to present.

2) If the car is ALREADY UNLOCKED, then without the fob, you can press on ANY door handle and it will cause all door handles to present.

Settings when I did this experiment:
Auto present door handles: off (makes it easier to test this specific behavior)
Door unlock: all doors
Child lock: tried both on and off, results are same.

Hope that clarifies (or maybe confuses even more) this topic.

 

[FloridaGary]

I just tried it and it definitely did not work for me. On my car, only the front door handles respond to a press. I have a 70 built in late December 2015.

Same with me. Model S 70 built in Dec 2015. Back door handles do not extend when touched. However, my setting is for the Driver door handle to only unlock upon my approach.

 

[Electricfan]

Well, March of 2018, I got a loaner for some small service my car was getting. I noticed the back door handles worked - meaning I could press them to open the back door without pressing the front door handles. But, when I asked about this, the service center explained the operation as described above (back doors only present when pressed if car is unlocked). (I'm assuming the loaner was not set to auto-lock, so it was always unlocked, but I didn't have the loaner anymore to verify)

Interesting to note, however, this still buffaloes people. Meaning, when I asked about it, I got multiple answers before we settled on the correct one (I'm pretty certain, although I look forward to my next loaner so I can verify it again just for myself). (answers I got were - its broke and we'll take it in and fix them, oh - you didn't get the tech package so your car doesn't have necessary key fob sensors, and it works if you have auto-present on). Interesting - Tesla is so fast moving, and the tech on this car is so different from other cars, that simple door handle operation is not widely understood, not by service and not by owners.