Tesla recently announced that it is planning to redesign the door handles of its electric vehicles amid growing safety concerns that passengers could become trapped inside. The move was confirmed by Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s Chief Designer, during an interview on Bloomberg’s Hot Pursuit! podcast. He noted that the new design will focus on making the handles more intuitive, especially in emergency situations.
While von Holzhausen did not provide a specific reason for the sudden decision, the timing suggests it may be linked to an ongoing investigation by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The federal agency is examining the efficacy of Tesla’s door handles, after multiple incidents in which said handles reportedly failed, trapping passengers — sometimes children — inside.
The issue gained attention after Bloomberg highlighted several cases where people were injured or even killed when they could not open doors following a power loss, particularly after crashes. In addition, the NHTSA has received over 140 consumer complaints regarding malfunctioning handles.
The investigation covers an estimated 174,290 Model Y vehicles from the 2021 model year. Regulators are also assessing Tesla’s power-supply approach for the doors and its overall reliability.
Currently, all Tesla vehicles have their electronic and manual door-release mechanisms separate from each other, and located in different sections of the EV. To complicate matters further, the placement of the manual release mechanisms are different for each model.
Tesla’s Design Chief now wants to combine both the electronic and manual mechanisms of the door handles into one button. In relation to that, the company is also studying details of China’s plan to ban flush door handles.
Chinese authorities are rethinking the fully retractable door handle design due to safety reasons as well. The National Accident In-depth Investigation System (NAIS) has reported a 47% increase in accidents related to the door handles, with 82% of them involving fully retractable designs.
While it is somewhat assuring that Tesla is rethinking the safety aspect of its vehicles, there has been no indication as to when or if the new design will be integrated into the current models.
(Source: Bloomberg)
