Electric Vehicles

Another Tesla owner here (2020 Model 3) who thinks Musk is an absolute tool bag, but the misinformation out there about the cars is just plain silly.

Being trapped in a fire?

Every Tesla has always had prominent manual door release mechanisms on the front doors. So prominent, in fact, that most people who try to get out of the car for the first time instinctually go for it (on the Model 3 and Y, at least). The rear doors depend on model/year, but are mostly much less prominent/accessible since it would defeat the purpose of the child lock.

Self igniting batteries?

There are far, far fewer EV battery fires per year than there are ICE fires, even adjusting per capita. Furthermore, Teslas have historically had the lowest rate of battery fires of any EV.

Stuck due to software updates?

Software updates never install automatically and you literally never have to sit and wait in the car for them. When a software update is available, you get a notification to schedule it both on the car's screen itself and on your phone via the Tesla app. You don't even have to touch the car to schedule or install the update from your phone. Additionally, if the concern is regarding getting in/out while an update is installing, the standard door handles work just fine throughout 95% of the update process, and the manual releases always work.

Doorhandles don't work when out of battery?

What, to get in the car? That's a valid criticism I suppose, but not at all unique to Teslas, and getting in won't do you a lot of good with an "empty tank" anyway, especially if it's dead to the point that even the 12V battery (which is responsible for the doors and most of the electronics other than the motors and HVAC) is fully drained. Either your 12V battery has to straight-up fail entirely or you have to leave the car sitting on 0% for weeks to months for this to happen. There are terminals to "jump" the car and access the frunk (and thus the 12V battery) without access to the inside of the car.

Body pieces not secure?

Build quality issues are not at all unique to Tesla, and occur with every manufacturer all the time. Except for the Cybertruck, nearly all of Tesla's build quality issues were largely worked out years ago and are on the same level as other manufacturers.

Self driving is a lie?

My car literally drives me to and from work every day (40min one way) with very infrequent interventions or disengagements from me. Pretty convincing lie, if you ask me. While we're not at level 3 autonomy yet, and Elon has hugely over promised and under delivered over the years, the tech is extremely impressive (especially given it's 100% camera-based) and already pretty damn good (not always perfect) in most scenarios. It's constantly being improved, too. I've gotten to personally experience the progress over the past 5ish years, and it feels like we're getting pretty close. Whether it's actually level 3+ soon, who knows. The future is hard to predict, especially with very new, experimental tech like this.

Anti safety, anti union practices in assembly? The social cost of everyone thinking you're a Musk fanboy?

100% valid, no argument from me.