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The problem is overengineering a device just for the convenience of the manufacturer or to add wow factor without taking in account reliability. It happens with

The problem is overengineering a device just for the convenience of the manufacturer or to add wow factor without taking in account reliability. It happens with mechanical and electrical devices as well. Tesla is not the only or the first to use electrically operated door releases.

jjk166 6y ago
It's unclear to me whether you are referring to the specific handle deployment or electronic components in general. If the former, I agree that it seems like a dumb feature but if people want to pay for it, so be it. However if you are talking about electronic systems in general, they are not overengineering for the convenience of the manufacturer nor wow factor. Components like solid state relays are chosen because they are safer and simpler than their mechanical counterparts - the fact that you can do more with them and they are cheaper is just further evidence of their overall superiority for most applications. I think what a lot of people are forgetting here is that in the vast majority of situations you don't want random people to be able to easily open up your doors from outside. What failed here was not the door handle - which operated exactly as it should under normal circumstances, but the emergency override that should unlock the car when the airbags deploy. However, it's completely reasonable for some systems to fail when you crash at extremely high speeds - you can't make things indestructible. I see no evidence that a mechanical failsafe would have performed better.
- neuralRiot 6y ago
  Everything has its tradeoffs, the problem is what are you willing to give to get what, and I don’t think users know exactly that because systems have become so complex that even engineers sometimes struggle to make the right choices specially when pressured by marketing depts. To me personally i trust more a piece of steel wire than a motor-driver-microcontroller-switch-battery chain. Just for my door handles being able to move in and out.

jjk166 6y ago

It's unclear to me whether you are referring to the specific handle deployment or electronic components in general. If the former, I agree that it seems like a dumb feature but if people want to pay for it, so be it. However if you are talking about electronic systems in general, they are not overengineering for the convenience of the manufacturer nor wow factor. Components like solid state relays are chosen because they are safer and simpler than their mechanical counterparts - the fact that you can do more with them and they are cheaper is just further evidence of their overall superiority for most applications. I think what a lot of people are forgetting here is that in the vast majority of situations you don't want random people to be able to easily open up your doors from outside. What failed here was not the door handle - which operated exactly as it should under normal circumstances, but the emergency override that should unlock the car when the airbags deploy. However, it's completely reasonable for some systems to fail when you crash at extremely high speeds - you can't make things indestructible. I see no evidence that a mechanical failsafe would have performed better.

neuralRiot 6y ago
Everything has its tradeoffs, the problem is what are you willing to give to get what, and I don’t think users know exactly that because systems have become so complex that even engineers sometimes struggle to make the right choices specially when pressured by marketing depts. To me personally i trust more a piece of steel wire than a motor-driver-microcontroller-switch-battery chain. Just for my door handles being able to move in and out.