The article explains that it doesn't have power to turn on "tow mode" - so the wheels remain engaged to the now dead electrical system, effectively locking them in place.
Why can't you plug the car in, and switch on tow mode?
Even a laptop with a dead battery works fine when plugged in. I'd venture to say that a tow truck's alternator should be enough to disengage the wheels. Sorry, but this is just crappy engineering.
Unlike a laptop, the Tesla was never designed to be run while plugged in. Combined with the fact that they arent designed to hit zero battery. This is an easy oversight of design, where the laptop can run directly off of wall power not due to fix the problem of a dead battery, but to provide less stress on the battery while being used and plugged in. A usage case that does not exist under normal usage of a tesla.
Additionally. Do we know that it is actually impossible to engage tow mode while plugged in? That still doesn't solve all cases of having to manually move it.
Failing open would be bad, a "unscrew this small panel and pull this switch" would be fine.
My car is old Saab and there are places to move aside bits of trim to manually operate the sunroof and fuel tank cover if the battery is completely gone.
They may have them, I'm not rich enough to buy a brick that big. But from what I've noticed in friends and family, most younger people don't even realize they're there. "Isn't that what P is for?". It makes me feel old driving a manual transmission and knowing what all of those things are for.
