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.
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.
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.
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.
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
There are wires that hang out of the left tow hook you can use to pop the electronic latch but you need another battery to do that.
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
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.
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.
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.