this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2024
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So reading the article... it had a dead 12V battery. The car warns you when the 12V battery is going bad. It's possible it suddenly died without warning, but unlikely. Those are literally the same tech as every other car, nothing really special about the 12V system. It's just a smaller battery since it doesn't have to power anything other than accessories, and is constantly recharged by the high voltage system.
Even ignoring all that, you can access the 12V system externally to jump it and open the doors just like any regular ICE car needing a jump. It's not like Teslas are the only vehicles reliant on things like key fobs and doors without obvious keyholes.
https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/modely/en_us/GUID-3567D5F4-A5F4-4323-8BE0-023D5438FFC6.html
No other car needs a jump for occupants to exit the vehicle, what the fuck are you talking about? Are you intentionally missing the point?
Neither does a Tesla, there are manual overrides inside the vehicle if you are "stuck" inside with a dead 12V system for any reason.
I was referring specifically to the fact that the car can be jumped like any other vehicle if necessary, and the topic at hand is one of those situations. Any vehicle with a flush handle that uses an electronic release will have this issue if the 12V system dies. Because these systems all rely on an electronic mechanism to open the door. Interior manual overrides will bypass but from the outside, there often isn't a bypass, you would need to jump the 12V system to unlock a door.
Other than the Tesla models, there's the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Ford Mustang Mach-E, and Range Rover Velar that I found with a 2 minute search. There's probably more models, probably even before Tesla if someone cared to look more.
I'm pretty sure non teslas always open when you pull the handle.
Consumer Reports has an entire article about the many vehicles with electronic door releases. Both for how to manually exit if necessary, and for the models with exterior electronic handles. Tesla are nowhere near the only manufacturer, they're just the most numerous now, and a target for social media users who hate the company and feel the need to comment on every article negatively as if the company is the only one to do something.
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-safety/how-to-escape-your-car-if-the-electronic-door-release-fails-a8152892189/
Tesla is not unique, in any way. Everything Tesla does was either copied from elsewhere or has been copied by someone else now.
And yet we have
vs
There are two totally different battery systems in electric vehicles.
The car drives using the high voltage system. The normal car functions like infotainment, door locks, windows, power ports, etc. all operate on a standard 12V system just like any ICE vehicle. The high voltage system recharges the 12V system just like an alternator in an ICE vehicle.
There are mechanical overrides inside the vehicle to force unlock and open the door if you're locked inside with no power for some reason.
The situation listed in the article can only happen if the driver ignored the warning that their 12V battery needed to be replaced, and let it die while also leaving their child in the vehicle unattended. They also apparently didn't attempt to jump the 12V battery like you would in any other situation.
I don't blame the driver for anything more than being a fucking idiot leaving their child in the car unattended. Yes they should know basic safety things about their vehicle, but I can excuse that in a stressful situation like this.
The firefighters on the other hand, should know that these vehicles all still have a regular 12V system they can access to jump a dead battery to open doors that aren't unlocking. This shows a distinct lack of education about electric vehicles, something that all fire departments should have by now with tens of millions of them on the road.
Teslas aren't the first cars that need a working battery to operate the door locks, they're probably just the most common now as they sell millions of them every quarter.
You're full of shit.
Just sell your tesla stock when it is bleeding you dry. Telling lies won't save your money.
Sorry that I expect first responders to actually learn new things as technology moves forwards, especially when there are millions of vehicles on the road.
Tesla is not the only manufacturer where this would be a thing. Any vehicle with electronic actuated handles/doors would be affected. With a quick search I found the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Ford Mustang Mach-E, and Range Rover Velar all look likely to have this same issue if locked outside with a dead 12V battery since they all use electronically-activated doors or handles to open the vehicle from outside.
Just like firefighters now learn how to fight lithium battery vehicle fires, and where the high voltage disconnects are for safety. Unlike those disconnects, which would be in different places for every vehicle model, the fact that a simple 12V jump like a normal car would let you open basically any vehicle with electronic doors or handles seems like a pretty small thing to learn.
Nothing stopped the person from calling road service to wire the car up, save for the fact that a child was involved.
But there was. And ensuring the kid is safe takes top priority, and the last thing anyone wants to hear is another case of emergency responders dragging their feet while another kid dies. Smash your way safely into that car, THAT is what they are trained to do.
Firefighters deal with a lot of shit and receive lots of training. I would argue that most firefighters know about the issues being laid out, and policy, not lack of knowledge, dictates a process to be carried out. I really don't think this is a situation they should be vilified over if it saves lives.
Edit: If it wasn't clear, nobody is complaining about getting off work and finding out their car is dead, and having to call the fire department to show up with the jaws of life.
My keyless entry VW has flaps on the door handles which you can use a key to open the doors if the battery was depleted.