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A Tesla owner says he was locked out of his EV after its 12-volt battery died amid the Texas heat
(www.businessinsider.com)
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this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2023
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Is this really news?
So if I get locked out of a car, I'm suddenly worthy of making headlines? There are bigger things to draw attention to than this.
Any other car has a physical key as a backup. If the battery dies you can use the physical key to open it up and pop the hood to get to the battery to charge it.
With a Tesla you can’t do that because they don’t have a physical key.
You don’t need to pop the hood to jump the battery, there’s a manual latch on the front that works if it’s dead. This isn’t news it’s just clickbait Tesla hate.
The article itself says the owner tried to jump it several times before having to get it towed… like he would have for every other car brand.
No there isn't
https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-356E0168-47E5-400F-AD83-4F1B86C7D991.html#CONCEPT_OQL_LDL_PZ Learn how to use your car
I know how to use my car. That is not a "manual latch". It is exactly what I described in the comment you just replied to. Learn how to read.
It’s a manual override to open the hood for when the battery is out. The whole point of the article/thread is that people think there isn’t one when there clearly is.
You don’t need a key because you can replace the battery without one even if the car is dead.
Not if you lose a key, of course. But getting locked out over a mechanical failure that happens often (a dead battery) is newsworthy. This seems to be yet another serious design flaw.
The list of cars you can't open anymore once the battery dies is much longer than just "Tesla". Some may have cumbersome workarounds (I've e heard some only have non-electric mechanism to open the trunk). Others require you to have a physical key that you normally don't need and isn't part of the everyday key (so it's probably at home somewhere in a box, and this would've had the same result).
Any other car has a physical key as a backup. If the battery dies you can use the physical key to open it up and pop the hood to get to the battery to charge it.
With a Tesla you can’t do that because they don’t have a physical key.
The "news" is because there is no mechanical backup option. It's indicative of their "all computer" approach to design.
There are similar stories of people being stuck at Superchargers when the stupid electrical latch fails. There's a backup release in the trunk but guess what? It's also electronic 🤦♂️
Oh and your user manual? Guess what? There's no copy stored on the car or in the app. There's no printed copy included in the car. So if you don't have the wherewithal to print or otherwise save a local copy, and don't have cell service you're boned if you need it. When I first got my car it used to crash the entire infotainment system when I tried to open it.