So, after much ado about this topic in another thread, I set forth the opinion that the door handle retraction couldn't possibly injure someone. Seems a lot of people disagreed with this, so, time for some facts and experiments in another wonderfully informative wk057 thread.
Hypothesis: Door handles do not exert enough force on retraction to be a problem. The handles do not retract under the force of a motor. Instead, the handles are released to their springs upon retraction and retract under the tension of the springs and even a minor obstruction (finger) will easily stop it.
Experiment/Testing:
Bought a force gauge (been wanting one anyway) to test this. I tested the gauge against some known weights before testing and it was spot on.
Grabbed my SpaceX lanyard and went to work.
First up, P85D driver door handle.
Peak of 3.87 lbs of peak force on the springs. I made sure to keep the handle partially extended for the testing and did several tries. All were within 0.1 lb of this.
I also tested the other handles, and the driver door actually had the most force. The others were between 0.1 and 0.2 lb less.
Next up, the wife's P85.
Surprisingly a hair less force than the P85D, clocking in at 3.16 lbs of force peak. Tested her other handles with nearly identical results.
So... how does this compare to some other handles? To the kitchen!
My refrigerator door takes 6.01 lbs of force to open.
The bottom freezer drawer takes 11.41 lbs of force.
A random door knob near the kitchen needs 3.37 lbs of force (between the P85D and P85 handles).
Microwave door: 9.64 lbs.
Oven door: 12.11 lbs.
Conclusion: So, suffice it to say no one is getting injured by the Model S door handles. Let's just lay that to rest. If you can make popcorn or grab a beer without hurting yourself opening the microwave or fridge then you're not going to be hurt if the Model S retracts its handle on your hand.
Note: I mentioned in another thread that as a result of a moderator here overreacting to a post of mine on this topic that I wouldn't be posting the results of my testing here on TMC in protest of this. However, after some thought, I don't believe there is another online community that would better appreciate the information than here, and I decided to just not let this moderator's error spoil it for everyone here. I appreciate the work the forum administration does here, and there isn't a better Tesla related community available. TMC is far better than the "official" forums at Tesla's website. In any case, I'll hope it was an isolated moderator having a bad day issue and continue on.
Hypothesis: Door handles do not exert enough force on retraction to be a problem. The handles do not retract under the force of a motor. Instead, the handles are released to their springs upon retraction and retract under the tension of the springs and even a minor obstruction (finger) will easily stop it.
Experiment/Testing:
Bought a force gauge (been wanting one anyway) to test this. I tested the gauge against some known weights before testing and it was spot on.
Grabbed my SpaceX lanyard and went to work.
First up, P85D driver door handle.
Peak of 3.87 lbs of peak force on the springs. I made sure to keep the handle partially extended for the testing and did several tries. All were within 0.1 lb of this.
I also tested the other handles, and the driver door actually had the most force. The others were between 0.1 and 0.2 lb less.
Next up, the wife's P85.
Surprisingly a hair less force than the P85D, clocking in at 3.16 lbs of force peak. Tested her other handles with nearly identical results.
So... how does this compare to some other handles? To the kitchen!
My refrigerator door takes 6.01 lbs of force to open.
The bottom freezer drawer takes 11.41 lbs of force.
A random door knob near the kitchen needs 3.37 lbs of force (between the P85D and P85 handles).
Microwave door: 9.64 lbs.
Oven door: 12.11 lbs.
Conclusion: So, suffice it to say no one is getting injured by the Model S door handles. Let's just lay that to rest. If you can make popcorn or grab a beer without hurting yourself opening the microwave or fridge then you're not going to be hurt if the Model S retracts its handle on your hand.
Note: I mentioned in another thread that as a result of a moderator here overreacting to a post of mine on this topic that I wouldn't be posting the results of my testing here on TMC in protest of this. However, after some thought, I don't believe there is another online community that would better appreciate the information than here, and I decided to just not let this moderator's error spoil it for everyone here. I appreciate the work the forum administration does here, and there isn't a better Tesla related community available. TMC is far better than the "official" forums at Tesla's website. In any case, I'll hope it was an isolated moderator having a bad day issue and continue on.
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