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2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,315
edited September 2014 in Tesla

image2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test

A video to show how the door handles work in our long-term 2013 Tesla Model S.

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    hybrishybris Member Posts: 365
    Cool concept but not something that I would want in my daily life.

    Also I can't see this feature translating well to lower price points on to vehicles that may experience sitting over night in freezing rain.

    I can just hear the motor trying to brake through the ice and then burning it self out or stripping gear teeth.
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    zimtheinvaderzimtheinvader Member Posts: 580
    looks cool but let me borrow the car for a week and I'll give you my real world use impressions.
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    zhangrenhouzhangrenhou Member Posts: 79
    I think they're cool and unique!
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    zcalvertzcalvert Member Posts: 76
    they're much quicker than i expected. i think i would be fine with it.
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    stovt001_stovt001_ Member Posts: 799
    I wouldn't be impressed after the third time, and would be more than annoyed when they eventually stopped working. And I can't imagine the chrome feels great on a hot day either. I'd prefer a touch pad surface if it had to be technically showy.
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    greenponygreenpony Member Posts: 531
    The technogeek in me says it's nifty. "Cool and unique" as someone said before. The pragmatist in me fears what might go wrong -- it's unnecessary, even frivolous.
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    legacygtlegacygt Member Posts: 599
    Nay. An even better solution is to have the handle already there, ready to be used, like on every other car. The only justification for these is if there is an aero benefit that exceeds the negatives of extra weight, complexity, battery usage and potential reliability issues of this approach.

    In terms of aerodynamics thought, side mirrors are much more of a liability than door handles. How about side mirrors that retract on only deploy when you look at them?
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    quadricyclequadricycle Member Posts: 827
    @legacygt: There's always those side view cameras that you sometimes see on super cars or on the VW XL1, where they removed them for a really low drag coefficient.
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    mayhemmmayhemm Member Posts: 6
    @legacygt: Tesla agrees with getting rid of the side mirrors for the reasons you mentioned (the Model X prototypes were without them for a while) but apparently legal ramifications are holding up any mirror-less versions making it to final production. L
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