The manual door release couldn't be further from "secret". It's so obvious that almost every first-time passenger thinks it's how you're always supposed to open the door.

That's true for the front seats. In the back seat of the Model Y you have to pull out the rubber floor of the storage pocket in the door, remove a cap, fish around for the cable, then pull it. It couldn't be less obvious.

That's true, but:

1. The woman in this story wasn't in the back seat.

2. The whole concept of the "child safety lock" feature in cars is that we want to make it difficult/impossible to open the back door from the inside.

I have to actively, preemptively teach passengers how to open the door lest they crank it open manually, instinctively. My dad opened it manually 3x before understanding what I was saying.

Thought the same. I’d say it’s _too_ obvious because every time I have someone new in the passenger seat I have to warn them when they grab it.

I think the issue is that in a calm, rational state you would think "let me just slowly visually examine the door area and where a typical lever or latch would be" but in a state of panic humans get tunnel vision and lose their slow methodical approach. That's why emergency planning and evacuation type designers will create UX/UI affordances that are multi-factor and unmistakable (flashing lights, alarm sounds, bright colors, capital letters with simple instructions). Think about the neon red EXIT signs above doors or the horizontal panic bar door mechanism (which to be fair has other design considerations like the fact that in a crowd crush situation even people unable to move their hands and arms may push the door open using the weight of their body and torso itself against the panic bar).

The Tesla front seat emergency door handle is placed in a place you're far more likely to grab in an emergency than the tiny little normal egress button.

One of the first things I had to do when buying the car was go online and search for it. I had no idea it was there because it looks like part of the trim in my Model Y and and when you have an all-black interior, it doesn't stand out (especially in low light conditions). I had to show my family members where it was also. They need to put a red decal on it or something, so that it stands out more.

so... first time users all ignore the button marked with a door opening icon and go for the wobbly bit of plastic with no markings. your friend group is weird.

I have to tell people not to use that secret handle when exiting my model 3. Damn the media hates Tesla

or maybe tesla could develop a car whose door handle doesn't damage the trim so you can put a "this is how you open the door" icon on it.

i.e. it's not just the media who hates teslas

how do you drive a car for 3 years and not know there was a latch to open the door in case the power goes out?

Is this the one where she tried to update in a fast food parking lot and ignored the warnings?

This kind of non newsworthy article creates narrative based thinking (“EVs bad, people stuck in car when battery dies”) when it’s just PEBCAK (problem exists between user and keyboard)

This is 100% a RTFM moment. User error should be the main jist of this dumb news story. I guess it'll help other clueless owners.

See, there are two types of RTFM people.

One follows the path of Procrustes. The other observes what people are prone to doing, and build that.

Unfortunately, the work saved by building things instinctually compatible isn't as amenable to being measured by KPI's or BoM.

Do they not have a "leisure battery" that's not associated with the main power?