Posted on 05/18/2015 7:06:09 PM PDT by concernedcitizen76
A new car shouldn't have problems when you’ve owned it for less than a month. Yet Consumer Reports' brand-new $127,000 Tesla Model S P85 D, with the fancy retractable door handles refused to let us in, effectively rendering the car undriveable.
After we’d owned the P85 D for a mere 27 days, with just over 2,300 miles on the odometer, the driver-side door handle failed. The door handles in the Model S retract electrically so they rest flush with the sides of the car when they’re not in use. Walk up to the car with the key fob in your pocket, and the handles move out to allow you to grip them.
Driver's door handle is stuck.
Except this time, the one on the driver’s door of our P85D didn’t pop out, leaving us no way to open the door from the outside. And significantly, the car wouldn't stay in Drive, perhaps misinterpreting that the door was open due to the issue with the door handle. We have observed other vehicles likewise prohibiting driving with a door open.
We’re far from the first Tesla owners to experience this problem. Our car reliability survey shows that doors, locks, and latches are the biggest trouble areas with Teslas and that the Model S has far higher than average rates of such problems.
“Model S’ connectivity paired with over-the-air software updates allow Tesla to diagnose and fix most problems in Model S without the owner ever coming in for service,” said a Tesla Motors spokesperson via e-mail. “In instances when hardware, like the door handle, need to be replaced, we strive to make it painless for a customer to get their Model S serviced. ”
The good news: Getting our Tesla fixed could hardly have been more convenient. We called our local Tesla service center to have the car picked up and hauled 60 miles away to the service center for repair. But instead, the company sent a local technician to our Auto Test Center the next morning. Tesla maintains a fleet of repair vans with technicians to provide on-site service for minor problems. Such house calls are part of the Tesla ownership experience, available to all customers.
The technician diagnosed and repaired the problem quickly. Our car needed a new door-handle control module—the part inside the door itself that includes the electronic sensors and motors to operate the door handle and open the door. The whole repair took about two hours and was covered under the warranty.
Now that we can open the driver’s door and slide behind the wheel, our P85D is ready to start our formal test regimen. We’ll keep you posted on how it performs and let you know whether we have any more problems with it.
I wish I had a dollar for every promising battery technology I’ve seen over the years.
From your link:
At present, he says, the battery’s energy density is limited by the bulky AlCl4- ions. ‘Hopefully this work can really open up more research in this area,’ he adds.
What if you have an accident and the doors won’t open from outside?
When your Tesla starts calling you Dave and singing about Daisy, it's time to trade it in.
That must have been an interesting phone call: “Hi, this is Consumer Reports, and our Tesla is busted.” I’d guess there was some panic at the Tesla dealership and a team of mechanics roared out like a SWAT team. It would have been interesting to see how Tesla would have reacted if they hadn’t identified themselves as Consumer reports.
The more “new” technology on a vehicle, the lower the life expectation. I would think that just getting the innovative propulsion right would be great. But retracting door handles?
“Well, what do you expect for $127,000?”
For a glorified appliance on wheels? Seriously. I drove my bud’s Maserati to Malibu 2 weeks ago and I would rather pay for one instead of looking like a lib retard driving that thing. And don’t give me that “there are plug in stations” crap. Anything you plug into a socket is an appliance.
Ah yes. I remember teaching myself timing and dwell; being able to adjust the distributor by the sound of the motor, until it was just right. A little advanced for more power, a little less for better gas mileage. When I retire I will find a car that still needs this basic stuff.
Are each of us still funding the Tusla with Obambi tax dollar redistribution? Farkin’ Bastiches!
“Yes, but you can still look smug standing in the rain trying to decide whether the break out the window so you can get in your car.”
Nice try, but what’s the point of driving a Tesla if it’s raining? After all, in weather like that, very people want to stand around and ask you questions about your ‘super-cool’ car.
If it’s raining, it make more sense to keep it in the oversized (and spotless) garage and just throw another party, since you now have something to talk about.
“I’d guess there was some panic at the Tesla dealership and a team of mechanics roared out like a SWAT team.”
Well stated. I doubt they would have roared out in their underwear if you or I had been locked out. More likely we’d hear from an overtired person with an Indian accent.
“Does a discharged Tesla batttery therefore make it impossible to open the doors even if the door handles are not defective?”
Look up “Tesla brick” and you’ll see there’s a lot more to deal with than door handles if you ever let the battery run out.
There was briefly a Canadian-mande car called the “Bricklin” on the market.
Maybe Tesla could buy the name.
Oops! mande = made
Good point re: rain.
I’ll grant you it was a long time ago
Consumer Reports is a liberal organization, and it shows in their product tests. I gave up on them years ago when they became pitchmen for Toyota.
Reminds me of the girl who died from heat exhaustion after she was locked inside her brother’s BMW.
CR swings wildly from pitching one brand of cars to another, usually with a disturbingly long lag that makes its current advice (whatever it is). CR was late to get off the GM train in the 1980s, and now it's late getting off the Toyota bandwagon.
Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
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