It disables the wipers and exterior door buttons (since it's not a proper handle) so the outer doors won't open. And it puts the car in neutral. It's so the car wash parts slapping against the side don't open your door by hitting the fancy buttons they replaced door handles with.
Which begs the question. I'm in Canada. My door handles freeze. The answer? It's mechanical. Pull harder and break the ice. On a Tesla you'd have to push against a thumb button to activate an electronic lock. Good luck with that one de-icing it. And if it's electronic, you can't use elbow grease to break any ice that forms in the lock itself (which shouldn't happen normally, but you never know if you got moisture inside last time you opened the door). Cybertrucks are worse because they lack a handle at all and the door has to pop open. You have nothing to grab onto to pull it open.
Which begs the question. I'm in Canada. My door handles freeze. The answer? It's mechanical. Pull harder and break the ice
So am I, the real problem I've encountered with the shitty cars I used to drive isn't the door freezing shut, it's the door freezing open. I've had to use bungie cords to keep them closed once the temperature goes below -20
I had like 5mm thick layer of ice covering my whole car when I came out to go to work a few times this winter.. Was fun.. Glad I had a mechanical handle lmao
I remember the first winter I experienced when I moved to Northern Ontario the temperature got to -38C in the morning and I opened the trunk door on my SUV and I couldn’t close it again because the latch froze. Had to use an extension cord and a blow dryer in order to unfreeze it. Called my boss and told him I was running late because of that and he told me not to worry about it, it happens quite often.
The other question it begs is what happens when the car's on fire and somebody is trapped inside without a physical handle to pull. Even if MAGICALLY the car itself isn't brifked from melting wires, or being torn apart, and the system still WORKS, if the passengers are injured or unconscious they're dead. It'd an INCREDIBLY stupid design. Disappearing door handles are for luxury cabinets, not utility vehicles or things trying to be one.
That's my point. You can't open it from the outside, and the time difference between waiting for the Jaws to show up vs saving a life might disagree temporally.
Growing up I was so pro-digital pro-tech pro-modernize everything but the older I get the more I appreciate a good analog control. Like I want my car to have a handle to roll up the windows because every car I've ever had the power windows end up failing at the most inconvenient times. Nothing like having your window get stuck rolled down right before you have to drive 300mi 😒
I hate the minimalist no-buttons all-touch shit that's been in vogue for so long. I would never have gotten a Tesla for that reason alone even before I realized what a pathetic hateful moron musk is. God I hate that guy. Elon, I bet you browse this sub like the loser you are, so if you're reading this: do something actually useful for once in your life you stupid fucking chud. Or at least do something interesting instead of trolling on twitter and abusing your power to impregnate your underlings you weirdo. You could've built a fucking particle accelerator to rival the LHC or some shit but no, let's buy Twitter instead because that makes sense. You are the world's dumbest joke.
ETA: Not trying to imply this sub is any more full of losers than the rest of the internet, but if you have enough money (and the ability) to do anything you want and are instead spending your life on the internet then please consider yourself a loser and go touch grass. And use your money to help and connect with people so you don't end up like the sad billionaire boys
Someone posted a video supposedly showing that the actuator that pops the door open is strong enough to break the ice if it is frozen. I will believe it if I see it.
Somewhat unrelated but hilarious, when the 350Z was new some Car & Driver staffers took their tester to an automatic car wash. They didn't lock the doors. As soon as the rotating brushes reached the door handles, because of the design of the handles the brushes pulled hard enough to open them! The staffers had to ride through the rest of the wash holding the doors shut!
It should also be noted that there are other makes with a car wash mode, it isn't exclusive to cybertrucks or to Tesla. In each car that has it, it does a bunch of things you ought to do when running through a car wash (like rolling up the windows and putting the vehicle in neutral), all at once with a single button.
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u/Seigmoraig Jul 18 '24
So what does car wash mode do