‘Perks Of Owning A Tesla In The Winter’: Woman Tries To Open Her Tesla Door. It’s Frozen Shut

A TikTok user posted a video about her Tesla handles freezing shut during the winter. Viewers had a surprisingly polarizing reaction. 

On Dec.1, Katie Bangert (@katiebanger_) posted a video showing that she had difficulty opening her Tesla due to the door handle being stuck. “Perks of owning a Tesla in the winter part 1,” she sarcastically writes in text overlay. 

“Tesla, what am I supposed to do here?” she asks in the caption. 

The video was surprisingly divisive, with many defending the popular manufacturer. “Some people don’t deserve Teslas,” writes one comment. 

“Push harder, or go into the app and just unlatch the door button, and it just opens for you,” writes another. 

However, some comments were similarly criticizing Tesla. “A design that needs multiple workarounds to work as well as a normal handle is not a good design,” adds another commenter. 

Why Is The Tesla Handle Stuck? Is This A Common Problem?

For many Tesla owners, the handle freezing shut in cold weather is a known and recurring issue caused by the fact that many Tesla door handles are designed to be flush with the body for aerodynamic efficiency. This causes snow, ice or even cold moisture to collect around the handle or inside the mechanism and solidify to prevent the handle from being pulled as intended. 

More specifically, ice can build up inside the pivot or hinge points of the handle mechanism, causing the handle to lock in place and not budge until the ice is cleared. Due to its prevalence in colder environments, this issue has been reported by numerous Tesla owners. 

How Can This Issue Be Resolved?

Luckily, there are several remedies for frozen Tesla handles, many of which are built in by Tesla. Tesla introduced an “Unlatch Door” option in its official mobile app, which lets a user remotely pop open the driver‑side door without relying on the physical handle. This feature is the simplest way to navigate the frozen handle. 

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In the case of that option not being available or if the freeze affects more than just the handle, Tesla’s official documentation recommends warming up the cabin and battery before trying to open the door. Using the “Defrost Car” feature in the app or scheduling the climate system to pre-heat before departure helps melt ice buildup on handles, windows, charge ports, and other moving parts. 

For manual treatment, some models allow you to press the frontmost part of the handle to rock it inward, which may break light or moderate ice, and then press the rear part to open normally. Once you get it moving, flip the handle open and shut a few times to clear remaining ice.

 

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