Talk me off the ledge.... No door handles?

[SeminoleFSU]

I think Elon has said the door handles will be deleted and there won't be any door handles. This is concerning to me in crash scenarios where the occupants may be in danger but incapacitated. Using the jaws of life on thick gauge steel and glass that is made to not break seems like it would make the extraction of occupants by emergency crews extremely difficult... better hope the battery isn't breached and in thermal runaway....

I'm sure Tesla's "solution" will be to maybe auto open the doors or something if a crash is detected, but what if that system is damaged in the accident?

Thoughts?

PS. I also hate the yoke especially in a truck...

I've been trying to wait on CT and not get a Rivian but they've made a really awesome truck and the R1S has an edge price wise and they don't have the over-engineered falcon wing doors either. If Tesla opens up the supercharging network this decision becomes even more easy... The supercharging network and autopilot are the two biggest moats Tesla has IMO... with AP being less of a differentiator especially for highway driving.

 

[jjrandorin]

I think Elon has said the door handles will be deleted and there won't be any door handles. This is concerning to me in crash scenarios where the occupants may be in danger but incapacitated

The vehicle has to actually exist before anyone can get too concerned about feature X or Y that is or isnt in it.

Since you asked to be "talked off the ledge", perhaps wait to decide whether to walk out on the ledge or not when there is an actual vehicle to get excited, or not excited for, depending on viewpoint.

 

[tashtibet]

I like my MY with no start button and CT with no handle will be another no brainer-Tesla won't compromise safety-it's Tesla's top priority.

 

[Nolimits]

I think we should all wait for final design unveil before jumping to full conclusions.

 

[cgell]

They can put a small steel ball on the outside of the vehicle. It’s like kryptonite for the window.

 

[father_of_6]

Are the outer handles on existing vehicles even mechanical? I could be wrong, but I don't think they are.

Maybe that's irrelevant to your concern. It is a real concern though... if someone has a heart attack at the wheel, the only way for an EMT to open the door is to break something.

There are other production vehicles with very non-obvious door handles though, so perhaps this isn't a new problem.

The CT isn't an armored vehicle, even if the glass is said to be. In a true emergency, emergency workers know how to break glass... and they *will* break that glass. And when they save your life, paying for new glass won't be a thing to be upset about.

My take on this is - if you want a CT and are able to afford one AND are lucky enough to get your hands on one in the next few years, this is zero reason to not get one. It's likely all the more reason *to* get one - it might be the safest truck on the road. Have you read about the Model 3 that drove off a cliff to a 100ft drop? All 4 passengers walked away without injuries.

 

[brkaus]

Handles on most cars are locked these days. So just because there are handles it doesn't mean it will help an emergency responder.

 

[FLRifleman]

The correct answer is you should compare all the available trucks when you are ready to buy. Since you're not, and you currently have no problem waiting, there isn't much to decide, yet.

For me the "yoke" and a few other functional things would be deal killers. I've taken myself out of the market for the next few years given our economic, interest rate, and inflation conditions. The Cybertruck should be out and the backlog caught up by then.

 

[father_of_6]

For me the "yoke" and a few other functional things would be deal killers.

Yeah, really. If there's a reason NOT to get a CyberTruck, it's the yoke and lack of gear stalks, not the lack of a door handle.

 

[Barklikeadog]

Can you open it with gloves?

 

[father_of_6]

Can you open it with gloves?

This one would probably open it:

 

[coleAK]

With no door handles I’m more worried about what I can pull on when the doors are frozen shut.

 

[father_of_6]

With no door handles I’m more worried about what I can pull on when the doors are frozen shut.

That's a *really* good point. I hadn't thought of that. This would actually make your truck inaccessible. Tesla better heat the door seals.

 

[EvilNuff]

I like my MY with no start button and CT with no handle will be another no brainer-Tesla won't compromise safety-it's Tesla's top priority.

They already have. The yoke is demonstrably less safe than a wheel.

 

[coleAK]

They already have. The yoke is demonstrably less safe than a wheel.

At least with the yoke you can swap it out for a round one. My buddy and I did his to a Tsportline. ~$800 Took all of 20min. Adding door handles wouldn’t be that easy.

 

[ThomasD]

The no door handles would be great with gloves on if the door opens when you want it to. Working in an area where you want to leave your Truck unlocked and your phone and other items in the Truck. Would the Truck would open the door if you walk up to it. If I just want something out of the back of the cab will the truck know that I want the right rear door to open when I walk up to the passenger side of the Truck? Will it be easy to use the captive touch buttons on the steering wheel with work gloves on? How well will the screen hold up to heavy duty work Truck use?

 

[andy.connor.e]

I think Elon has said the door handles will be deleted and there won't be any door handles. This is concerning to me in crash scenarios where the occupants may be in danger but incapacitated. Using the jaws of life on thick gauge steel and glass that is made to not break seems like it would make the extraction of occupants by emergency crews extremely difficult... better hope the battery isn't breached and in thermal runaway....

I'm sure Tesla's "solution" will be to maybe auto open the doors or something if a crash is detected, but what if that system is damaged in the accident?

Thoughts?

PS. I also hate the yoke especially in a truck...

I've been trying to wait on CT and not get a Rivian but they've made a really awesome truck and the R1S has an edge price wise and they don't have the over-engineered falcon wing doors either. If Tesla opens up the supercharging network this decision becomes even more easy... The supercharging network and autopilot are the two biggest moats Tesla has IMO... with AP being less of a differentiator especially for highway driving.

not a huge fan of the yoke.

but as far as the handles go, it's hard to really talk you off the ledge so to speak until we get more info about how they operate and what kind of manual releases there are. it's a good point.

 

[Supernaut]

I'll bet the CT will be great and approximately zero people will be impacted by frozen doors and delayed extraction after an accident. But you'll see, clickbait YouTubers will spray cold water on their door seals (off camera) to freeze them shut in winter and tell us all about how they're terrible. Maybe the aftermarket can help out with suction cup or superglue pulls lol.

 

[tommyboy21]

Since Tesla uses the automatic door opening on the Model X, I'm assuming the feature will work the same and be awesome. Not sure if that helps talk you off the ledge, but once you've experienced that feature, it's very impressive and I think it'll work great on the Cybertruck too.

 

[coleAK]

Since Tesla uses the automatic door opening on the Model X, I'm assuming the feature will work the same and be awesome. Not sure if that helps talk you off the ledge, but once you've experienced that feature, it's very impressive and I think it'll work great on the Cybertruck too.

Not a good point for hope. The model X doors have been nothing but problems since day one, doors are the main reason it sits pretty much at the bottom of reliability surveys.