Until about 2017, the Model S door handles suffered two problems. These were:

• Water ingress damaged multiple parts. These were:
  • Circuit board with the controller.
  • Some wires which protrude at connectors got corrosion directly at the exit with green from copper-like color.
  • The axis of the gear at the gear box, which stuck in the plastic housing was corroded.
  • Missing grease around the gear, probably because soapy water drained all away.
  • Broken wires at a moving switch which was mounted at the arm.
  • Non working LED illumination module was probably hammered in by Tesla, which caused cracks in the plastic with water ingress and corrosion as a consequence.

Original part after taking out:

A solution for the switches was to combine both moving switches in a stationary holder. After designing with FreeCAD, the following came out:

One of the objectives is to make the doorhandles water-proof. For this the following material has been tested:

• IASOPET OAN 26μm, Zolltarif PET Folie 39206219, BOPP Folie 39202021 (delivered from the company Strohmeier+Ernst GmbH & Co KG, Pilgerplatt 10, 33378 Rheda-Wiedenbrück, Mr. Gottlieb Ernst, Tlf. 05242-406603, Kunde Nr. 500002)
• Hostaphan RNT/36μm, (Delivered by the company Pütz GmbH + Co. Folien KG, Obere Waldstr. 26 + 26a, 65232 Taunusstein-Wehen, Tlf. Mrs. Manuela Erdmann, Tlf. 06128-964270)