It is really telling, that Tesla’s electric door handles have been trapping people inside burning cars for years, and it takes a ban from the Chinese market to get rid of them.
Fortunately, from 2027 Elon Musk will be forced by the Chinese government to change his lethal design.
Why on earth has the US and the EU not already banned these handles years ago?
@randahl I've been in cars with handles like that several times, especially taxis, where I can't figure out how to get out even when everything is working. Sometimes I haven't been able to figure out how to get in either because the handles are hidden. I hate those designs with a passion. They're obviously a security hazard.
@randahl I agree with most of what you contribute to the Fediverse, except for this one point. I drive a Model 3 myself, and the door handles are truly intuitive to use. They're almost as easy to operate as any other door handle.
I doubt there's any reliable data to support the claim that many people are putting themselves in danger because of the door handles.
@individual8 @randahl For something to be intuitive, you must right away understand how to use something without assistance. That is most definitely not true for Teslas. The first times I was in one the driver ended up opening the door for me. I hate those cars, and avoid them whenever I can.
In any case, the safety claim is not about whether they're intuitive or not, but that they stop working when it matters the most.
@individual8 @randahl How the fuck do you know that? I encountered Teslas long before Elon came out as a Nazi, so my dislike has nothing to do with politics and predates the current issues by many years.
@veronica Hatred is not usually directed at the smallest things in life.
@veronica They're mechanical pieces like any other car, who said they'd stop working?
@individual8 What the hell does that even mean? They are horribly designed cars, and I hate bad design. Don't get me started on the ridiculous screen.
@individual8 I take it you didn't read the article before commenting. Typical.
@veronica You come across as a Tesla troll. I've been driving the car for almost four years and have never had such a reliable vehicle. Having to admit this as a fan of German cars was painful for a long time. Tesla's leadership is controversial for good reason, but to criticize the cars Tesla produces is, to put it mildly, idiotic.
@individual8 So, I'm not allowed to have an opinion about the horrible design of a car because you happen to like it?
Maybe you should stop behaving like a condescending prick on the internet.
@veronica The exterior door handles are mechanical; no electricity is required. The primary interior door opener is electronic but has a mechanical emergency function.
I should stop feeding the trolls.
There is reliable data out there that people have been burned alive in multiple incidents in Teslas because the car was on fire, and the door handles were recessed so people couldn't get them out.
e.g., https://www.autoblog.com/electric/report-at-least-15-fatalities-linked-to-tesla-doors-failing-to-open-in-fires
Sure they're pretty, but they're also a death trap.
@randahl
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The point isn't that they're electronic or mechanic, it's that real-life experiences have shown that flush door handles are death traps.
Yes the design is done in such a way that the handles should come out when the car is involved in an accident. The key word here is 'should'. When (not if) it doesn't, you die.
@randahl
The link that I posted previously was the first result of a duck duck go search for 'Tesla door handles fire'. There are literally dozens of articles from different publications saying the same thing. You believing Tesla's lies that the door handles are safe doesn't make it so.
@randahl
@individual8 @veronica The OP is not a troll.
You like your car but others do not.
Screen based controls such as in the Tesla cars have been proven to distract the driver for longer periods of time when compared to cars with dedicated physical buttons for various functions.
As for the cabin, the two Model Ys in which I was driven recently made the interior of an Austin Maxi from the late 60s look luxurious.
The seats are more comfortable in a Maxi as well.
@the_wub @veronica The discussion was about door handles, not screens.
Tesla has sparked an unstoppable revolution: electric cars. The battle against Tesla is being waged by multi-billion-dollar competitors who have missed the boat on the future.
What better opportunity could have arisen for them than Elon Musk, whose fame and success have now gone beyond his control, and the millions of people who criticize and boycott him for it?
@individual8 @veronica The post from the OP that you replied to appears to be the one that ends
"Don't get me started on the ridiculous screen."
Hence my reply including a comment about screens.
As for the door handles, I will post this again.
@the_wub He's now spouting markering hype anyway, greatly exaggerating Tesla's importance. Being from a country where over 90% of new cars are electric, there are tons of excellent cars to choose from between many manufacturers. It was also Nissan who broke through here and kicked off the shift to electric.
@veronica I didn't realise that the Tesla Taliban had arrived on Mastodon.
Also strange to find a Tesla supporting conspiracy theorist. That's new to me.
It would seem that I live in a tiny sheltered part of the internet.
The only trolls are the ones in the woods around our house trying to keep warm in the snow and most of them seem to be benign.
Oh and yes, Tesla have many good competitors now.
I still do not understand why Norwegians buy so many Teslas. I wish they wouldn't.
@the_wub Yeah, Norwegians in general seem to not care too much. 17% of electric cars sold in Norway have been Teslas, but Volkswagen is catching up at 15%. Nissan is at 9%. BMW at 6%. Audi at 5%. That's totals since the beginning, so heavily dependant on how long each brand has had EVs on the marked. In January this year Volkswagen and Toyota are dominating, so maybe all the price chaos for Tesla is having an effect. They are also by far the brand with the most warranty claims per sold car.
@veronica I have contrasted the sales figures for Tesla Model 3 and Y combined vs the sales figures for all VW MEB platform cars a few times.
So this means VW, Skoda, Audi, SEAT/Cupra and Ford (Explorer and Capri) vs Tesla.
The MEB platform cars together outsell Tesla platform cars consistently in Norway.
The difference in favour of VW MEB was bigger in the rest of Europe the last time I checked.
So in Europe VW technology outsells Tesla technology.
https://ofv.no/aktuelt/2026/2025-ble-tidenes-rekord%C3%A5r-for-bilsalget
@wouter @individual8 @randahl I have posted in this thread the Bloomberg video report into issues around Tesla door handles.
Bloomberg seem to have done some very thorough research looking not just publicly available information into a fatal accidents but other types of incidents where door handles have stopped working in more mundane situations.
I recommend watching the Bloomberg report.