I little while ago, I tried stopping the tailgate from moving - can't remember if it was opening or closing - but I do remember being surprised by how much force it took to stop it. It wasn't easy.

Oh and I can confirm the tailgate won't open from the remote keyfob if something is plugged into the towbar electrics

Surely this is why the tailgate has to be closed from the outside of the car as a safety measure.

This will probably be the reason, but it doesn't really "fix the issue". With "manual" tailgates, kids simply can't reach the door, but they can (and will) reach the keys...

As a child, my hand got stuck in a cardoor and it shut completely into the lock (meaning every finger was delocated). I can assure you, the moment they invent electric car doors, there WILL be a safety feature built-in. No idea why Skoda has put the treshold so high. Even when parked to close to a wall, it looks like it will first scrape a bit more of the paint before realising there really is something blocking it.

Just did some tests

On my hatch, it stops when I hold one hand out and apply moderate resistance. I can stop it with ease one-handed, and certainly a great deal easier than as demonstrated in the video above.

It also seems to use the KESSY virtual pedal sensor as when I stand very close and press the button to lower the lid, it stops almost instantly with a 'chirp'. The same doesn't happen if I stand a little further back.

I think the greatest danger would be to small hands placed high up toward the hinge - the force there is much greater. I haven't been brave enough to offer my fingers up for science, but I may attempt it with a carrot or similar

Edited 4 April, 201610 yr by Kungfugerbil

Also, you press the button to close the tailgate, a second press of the button stops the tailgate and a third press of the button the tailgate opens up to full height again.

Okay, testing complete. Dinner tonight will be minus one carrot unless I replace it pronto... Please note the attached findings are not scientifically sound, may vary between cars and shouldn't replace normal caution and care.

The good news is that for most of the boot the damage to most fingers, hands and other parts would be low... However, as suspected, a stray small person hand placed inadvertently at the top end of an electrically closing hatch boot would carry a high probability of injury.

The expertly annotated diagram attached should show the danger points. The red zone (above the anchor point for the damper) is small - maybe 6 inches or so - but resulted in the end of the carrot being chopped off and the boot closing. Completely. The amber zone (most of the sides of the lid) resulted in minor crush damage to the carrot, but boot lid stopping. The green zone (rear lip) resulted in much the same as the Amber, but with less visible damage to the carrot.

Now, a carrot is not a medically approved substitute for a finger, and the age of the person will have a great bearing on the results, but I know I'm going to be continue to be incredibly careful with my kids (toddlers) and warn them of the dangers.

Edited 4 April, 201610 yr by Kungfugerbil

You must live in a world of zero accidents then Mr Perfect Parent. Its not a case of how to raise kids.. Its a case of that split second when things don't go to plan.

The built in precaution as detailed in the video above does not look ideal on the closure of the tailgate. It looks like the threshold is set far too high.

Do you think that is acceptable on the closure of the door ?

I find it hard to believe that if any injury was to occur because of a forceful closing door you would accept it as parent error.

Of course.. This may if been tweaked now as the video was on a press car, but as demonstrated in the video the door should of stopped with the pressure which was applied.

Then... It leads onto the VCDS coding of closing the tailgate from inside the car....

If you can´t live with the electric tailgate, and the way it works it could be worth considering not to order it

Okay, testing complete. Dinner tonight will be minus one carrot unless I replace it pronto... Please note the attached findings are not scientifically sound, may vary between cars and shouldn't replace normal caution and care.

The good news is that for most of the boot the damage to most fingers, hands and other parts would be low... However, as suspected, a stray small person hand placed inadvertently at the top end of an electrically closing hatch boot would carry a high probability of injury.

The expertly annotated diagram attached should show the danger points. The red zone (above the anchor point for the damper) is small - maybe 6 inches or so - but resulted in the end of the carrot being chopped off and the boot closing. Completely. The amber zone (most of the sides of the lid) resulted in minor crush damage to the carrot, but boot lid stopping. The green zone (rear lip) resulted in much the same as the Amber, but with less visible damage to the carrot.

Now, a carrot is not a medically approved substitute for a finger, and the age of the person will have a great bearing on the results, but I know I'm going to be continue to be incredibly careful with my kids (toddlers) and warn them of the dangers.

Quality test report. If anything this thread just raises awareness .

Cheers

Maybe it's the difference between sudden stop and just obstructiong it slowly like described here.

 

 

Not ordering electric tailgate with L&K is not an option in my country so ...

 

 

Toyota/Subaru

 

Mercedes Benz

 

BMW

let's say you put a pointy metal thing (let's say the edge of a cabin) to far out of the trunk so it hits the glass when the tailgate shuts. Would the pressure be high enough to shatter the glass? 

The safety side is why I didn't spec powered tailgate. Always safest to just do it by hand.

The safety side is why I didn't spec powered tailgate. Always safest to just do it by hand.

Thinking that way, you are correct. But what about power windows? Driving a car at all? A little common sense while operating the equipment, and we should all be fine

Thinking that way, you are correct. But what about power windows? Driving a car at all? A little common sense while operating the equipment, and we should all be fine

 

I think the issue is that the degree of safeguarding expected from the tailgate doesn't tally with how it actually functions. Powered windows have got to the point where they seem to stop if they detect a grain of pollen in the way, and it's the misfit between that experience and a fair amount of force being required with regard to the tailgate.  I agree with you thought that no risk of injury can be entirely designed out, and I also agree with RTT that small children are an entirely unpredictable force, and even the most safety conscious of us have at some point had a mad panic when their kids have suddenly done something that we thought we had made every effort to prevent!

I was shocked at how much force it took to stop the tailgate on my Subaru closing. I am very, very careful with it when anyone else is around the car. I think doing a test with a watermelon would be quite good and will try and do one. With plastic sheeting laid out as I expect it will shut fully on it.

Jeez some feisty characters round here with comments like 'the child was not responsible enough to appreciate the danger the tailgate posed to them' I think the clue is in the word child. My own 10 year old quickly reacted to an endangered baguette rolling out the rear door, because that's what kids do....they react without seeing the danger, I know because I used to be one! Suffice to say both child and baguette are safe and well with no harm done.

Jeez some feisty characters round here with comments like 'the child was not responsible enough to appreciate the danger the tailgate posed to them' I think the clue is in the word child. My own 10 year old quickly reacted to an endangered baguette rolling out the rear door, because that's what kids do....they react without seeing the danger, I know because I used to be one! Suffice to say both child and baguette are safe and well with no harm done.

 

Yeah im a little disappointed with the turn this thread took.... In the early days of this Forum when we were just ordering our cars and taking delivery it was a great atmosphere.... Lets try not to lose that ...

I did not intend for my initial response to be taken as an accusation of ‘bad parenting’ against anyone, and would prefer it not to be interpreted as such.  I felt that all the responses prior to my own were omitting the blatantly obvious that if there was sufficient supervision, and the electronic tailgate was used responsibly, then there should not be any injuries to anyone.

I am a great admirer of technology, and appreciate its benefits.  I am also aware that some technological ‘solutions’ create their own problems; the number of people who rely on Automatic Lights to tell them when it is dark, or the Rain Sensing Wipers to tell them when it is raining!  I hope I am wrong, but I can see potential issues with Adaptive Cruise Control and City Braking, where people rely more and more on technology rather than good judgement and common sense.

I am also a great believer in the ‘K.I.S.S.’ principal of Keep It Simple Stupid.  My potential solution to the electronic tailgate hitting someone or something, by utilising the Rear Parking Distance Control, is fine in theory, but it is another electronic system backing up another electronic system, and we all know how unreliable they can be; how many of us have experienced the ‘false positive’ full orange bars, and the high shrill shriek of the PDC telling us we are in imminent danger of hitting an object after the vehicle has been washed or it has been raining?

The crux of the matter is, regardless of whether Skoda et al, come up with a potential solution to the electronic tailgate, I would still rely on common sense. 

If it was available on the Skoda Options List, it would be one of the most expensive!

I did not intend for my initial response to be taken as an accusation of ‘bad parenting’ against anyone, and would prefer it not to be interpreted as such.  I felt that all the responses prior to my own were omitting the blatantly obvious that if there was sufficient supervision, and the electronic tailgate was used responsibly, then there should not be any injuries to anyone.

I am a great admirer of technology, and appreciate its benefits.  I am also aware that some technological ‘solutions’ create their own problems; the number of people who rely on Automatic Lights to tell them when it is dark, or the Rain Sensing Wipers to tell them when it is raining!  I hope I am wrong, but I can see potential issues with Adaptive Cruise Control and City Braking, where people rely more and more on technology rather than good judgement and common sense.

I am also a great believer in the ‘K.I.S.S.’ principal of Keep It Simple Stupid.  My potential solution to the electronic tailgate hitting someone or something, by utilising the Rear Parking Distance Control, is fine in theory, but it is another electronic system backing up another electronic system, and we all know how unreliable they can be; how many of us have experienced the ‘false positive’ full orange bars, and the high shrill shriek of the PDC telling us we are in imminent danger of hitting an object after the vehicle has been washed or it has been raining?

The crux of the matter is, regardless of whether Skoda et al, come up with a potential solution to the electronic tailgate, I would still rely on common sense. 

If it was available on the Skoda Options List, it would be one of the most expensive!

And it would also make it impossible to open the boot in eg. tall grass.

And it would also make it impossible to open the boot in eg. tall grass.

Precisely, you eradicate one problem, but create create another!

let's say you put a pointy metal thing (let's say the edge of a cabin) to far out of the trunk so it hits the glass when the tailgate shuts. Would the pressure be high enough to shatter the glass? 

Interesting point.

 

With a normal, non-electric tailgate you could stuff the boot full of whatever, then tentatively lower the tailgate to see if it was going to shut OK, before giving it a slam.

Guess you can't really do that with an electric one ?

Edited 4 April, 201610 yr by muddyboots

I don't know about the Skoda ones, but mine works exactly like a normal boot so you can move it about by hand just fine as long as you don't press the electronic open/close button. If I ever have issues with it I could just disconnect the motor and you couldn't tell.

Silly question but is the 'pressure to stop' a value that can be adjusted in Vag Com etc?

I tried mine and it stopped as soon as it touched me, but I tried it a few more times and on one occassion it would not stop, would have done some real damage to a small child!

I tried mine and it stopped as soon as it touched me, but I tried it a few more times and on one occassion it would not stop, would have done some real damage to a small child!

 

That's worrying.

Tried it on a test drive hatch model.

Pushed the button and tried to hold it back with one arm and basically could not do it. And i'm not that skinny a guy.

It pushed on my arm hard enough that it started hurting quite a bit so i pulled my arm away from under it. A pet or a child would definitely get hurt very badly if they were to get caught under it. Not sure what would happen if i just left my arm completely under the hatch. It did not seem to want to stop at all.

 

The additional danger is if you load your trunk up too high so the glass will touch your cargo. Pretty sure many things would break under the force.