With winter upon us, Tesla has released a new update to allow the driver's door to be opened directly from the smartphone app, in case the handle is out of order
Since the first winter on the market since Model 3, Tesla had to contend with a perhaps unexpected problem, at least from designers residing in California, the company's headquarters at the time. In the harshest climates, both American and European, some users had found themselves with iced out handles, therefore unable to open the doors to get into the car. Although the door is in fact electrically controlled, it needs the swing movement of the handle outwards.
At first Tesla had buffered the thing with an update, also using the air conditioning for direct warm air to areas at risk (handle, windows, charging port), but now, as winter approaches, try a new solution.
With smartphone app update 4.14.0, combined with vehicle software 2022.36+, widget commands now they also allow you to remotely open the driver's doorwithout using the handle. In all probability, the system uses the electronic mechanism for opening from the inside, which uses only a wired button, with no physical mechanism.
This will surely be an extra help, making sure, however, that the ice has not also involved the window. In fact, since it is a door without an upper frame, the window normally lowers automatically by a few cm to allow the door to move away. With a frozen window, and therefore blocked, there is a risk of forcing it and damaging it. However, the problem seems to be confined to a few cases in extremely cold climates.
