Tesla Model X (Tesla)
An Australian Tesla owner wants to know why the door on his Model X opened by itself into the path of passing semi-truck.
The electric SUV is available with power doors that can be opened remotely and the collision was captured on security footage, which shows both front doors of the street-parked SUV begin to open with no one around the vehicle as the truck drives by and slams into the right side door.
According to Tesla, the owner would’ve had to press a button on the keyfob four times to open the two doors simultaneously. The owner’s manual also notes that the vehicle can be set to open the driver’s door automatically as the keyfob approaches. The owner claims he was inside a nearby building and the key was a good 25 meters away from the vehicle at the time of the incident.
Tesla said that data collected from the car shows that the feature was active and that the owner admitted to it that he did press buttons on the keyfob, but he told 9 News that he never said that.
“I’m genuinely scared to own this car as it poses a risk to my family who travel inside it,” the owner told CarAdvice. “This isn’t the first time it has happened to a Model X, with multiple reports overseas of this serious, dangerous design flaw.”