Tesla Is Lightyears Ahead Of... Tesla
Why Hacker News recommends it
Recommended whenever door handles or car reliability engineering come up, as an enjoyable look at design iteration.
What it is
SuperfastMatt looks at how the Tesla Model S retracting door handles were redesigned over time, from many parts to a motor plus sensor, with a focus on engineering and reliability.
Recommended by 3 HN commenters across 3 different months, 2022 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Recommends duncans · 2022-11 · on “EVs are the least reliable vehicle type: Consumer Reports”
Regarding the pop-out door handles - this is a fascinating video on how the Tesla Model S door handles design has been refined and made more reliable by someone who used to work at Tesla (SuperfastMatt) [this video]
Recommends gloxkiqcza · 2025-02 · on “Nvidia's RTX 5090 power connectors are melting”
A bit off topic, but this is something HN might enjoy. It’s a video by a mechanical engineer that worked for Tesla, Apple and a NASCAR team about Tesla door handles over time. [this video]
Recommends lylejantzi3rd · 2026-02 · on “The overlooked evolution of the humble car door handle”
This is a great video by SuperfastMatt on the engineering behind and evolution of the Tesla door handle. [this video]
Cites torginus · 2025-12 · on “BMW PHEV: Safety fuse replacement is extremely expensive”
This reminded me of the video about the Tesla door handles, where its explained how they redesigned the retracting door handles of the Model S from having a bunch of switches and mechanical parts to just a motor + a position sensor: [this video]