Arizona woman trapped in Tesla when battery dies

Thought the same. I’d say it’s _too_ obvious because every time I have someone new in the passenger seat I have to warn them when they grab it.

I have to actively, preemptively teach passengers how to open the door lest they crank it open manually, instinctively. My dad opened it manually 3x before understanding what I was saying.

I think the issue is that in a calm, rational state you would think "let me just slowly visually examine the door area and where a typical lever or latch would be" but in a state of panic humans get tunnel vision and lose their slow methodical approach. That's why emergency planning and evacuation type designers will create UX/UI affordances that are multi-factor and unmistakable (flashing lights, alarm sounds, bright colors, capital letters with simple instructions). Think about the neon red EXIT signs above doors or the horizontal panic bar door mechanism (which to be fair has other design considerations like the fact that in a crowd crush situation even people unable to move their hands and arms may push the door open using the weight of their body and torso itself against the panic bar).

One of the first things I had to do when buying the car was go online and search for it. I had no idea it was there because it looks like part of the trim in my Model Y and and when you have an all-black interior, it doesn't stand out (especially in low light conditions). I had to show my family members where it was also. They need to put a red decal on it or something, so that it stands out more.

so... first time users all ignore the button marked with a door opening icon and go for the wobbly bit of plastic with no markings. your friend group is weird.

That's true for the front seats. In the back seat of the Model Y you have to pull out the rubber floor of the storage pocket in the door, remove a cap, fish around for the cable, then pull it. It couldn't be less obvious.

or maybe tesla could develop a car whose door handle doesn't damage the trim so you can put a "this is how you open the door" icon on it.

i.e. it's not just the media who hates teslas

See, there are two types of RTFM people.

One follows the path of Procrustes. The other observes what people are prone to doing, and build that.

Unfortunately, the work saved by building things instinctually compatible isn't as amenable to being measured by KPI's or BoM.