Tesla Owners are Installing DIY Rip Cords to Avoid Being Trapped in Their Vehicles in Case of Fire

[usonian]

https://fuelarc.com/evs/tesla-owners-are-installing-diy-rip-cords-to-avoid-being-trapped-in-their-vehicles-in-case-of-fire/

Tesla owners have started doing something wild… installing DIY emergency escape rip cords inside their vehicles so their passengers don’t get trapped if the car catches fire. That’s not a joke. That’s just how badly the doors are designed.

Here’s why: Tesla doors are entirely electronic. When you want to get out, you hit a button. But in a crash or fire, the car’s power can cut out, leaving you with only the mechanical backup. The only problem is a Tesla door’s emergency release is typically unlabeled and absurdly well-hidden.

So, owners are taking matters into their own hands, rigging up rip cords to the emergency releases. The mods range from factory-built third-party hardware to absolute zip-ties-and-a-prayer kind of builds. Some even add glow-in-the-dark labels or bright tabs so kids can find them in the dark.


"Solution" for stealth door release latch available at Amazon and others.
Via Reddit.

In the "Real World":
In models with electric door handles… Porsche, Audi, Lexus, even the Ford Mustang Mach-E… the solution is elegantly simple:

To mechanically open the non-Tesla electronic doors: Just pull the door handle harder.

That’s it. Pull the door handle a little, and it tries the electric latch. Pull it a little more, and it uses the mechanical latch that works even if the battery has failed.

Reddit commenter:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaModelY/comments/1h3lha9/thanks_for_the_idea_rear_door_emergency_release/

These door pulls do nothing for the case of a vehicle fire WHERE THE PASSENGERS ARE UNCONSCIOUS and bystanders want to open the door. The high profile fire recently in the news was that exact situation. People installing these door pulls are not addressing that issue.

You may have seen this (I think I posted it last year)
TeslaCam Catches Bystanders Rescuing Driver From Flaming Car On The Highway
https://insideevs.com/news/717135/video-car-fire-rescue-highway/

Not a Tesla burning, but one playing webcam. The driver's door of a gas car was wedged by a guardrail.

The driver of the Tesla that captured this video grabbed some debris from the wreckage and attempted to use it to break the driver's front window. That effort failed but then a Minnesota Department of Transportation worker arrived and broke the window but not before a small explosion sent the rescuers backward from the fiery wreckage for a bit.

After the window was smashed, the driver could put his feet out through the opening. He is then dragged out by multiple rescuers who wisely put some distance between themselves and the fiery car.

Ordinary items and tools won't break laminated glass. A pointed carbide-tip tool is required.



I got one "just in case", being a Coast Guard veteran and being "Always Ready" though there are few tools that I carry in the Forester other than a tire pump, jumper cables, and one of those gizmos.

And my Bat-Utility belt

[CoopersDad]

1. Looks like a good accessory to add to the doors.

[underpants]

2. I have a carbide tipped tool. Supposedly will cut the seatbelt too

Leatherman and electrical tape 👍

[SheltieLover]

3. Just don't buy junk!

[LauraInLA]

4. Hunh, our old Model 3 has a manual release on the door handle. I wonder if they removed that feature

from later models.

[Old Crank]

5. I thought laminated glass was only used on windshields.

That prevents the whole window from shattering if a rock hits it.

Side Windows were tempered and break into small little bits that won't cut you.

[usonian]

6. You're no doubt right. I am not a glass person.

except when in optical lenses!