by Development of a New Door Opening System
After years of using electric door handles as a design triumph, Tesla is now redesigning them for a less glamorous reason: people, including children, are often left locked inside the cars. The company has acknowledged that it is developing a new generation of door handles in response to numerous incidents of difficulty exiting Tesla electric vehicles. Additional pressure comes from an active NHTSA investigation.
Response from Tesla Management
Franz von Holzhausen, Chief Designer of Tesla, confirmed that the team is working on the problem, trying to make the door handles more understandable in stressful situations. The proposed solution involves combining the electronic and mechanical opening mechanisms, which are currently separate and located differently depending on the model and year.
The idea of combining the electronic and mechanical mechanisms into one button makes great sense. It’s something we are working on now.
Power Issues and Warnings
The problem arises when the low-voltage battery loses power, rendering the door handles ineffective. This is not only about Tesla — other manufacturers, such as Ford, have already released software updates to improve low battery charge warnings.
Complaints and Consequences
According to Bloomberg, since 2018, NHTSA has received over 140 consumer complaints about faulty Tesla doors. Some incidents were serious, with injuries and even fatalities when passengers could not leave the car after an accident. Nine cases involved parents trying to open the rear doors of a Tesla Model Y to reach children. In four cases, parents broke the windows because the children were too small to use the hidden mechanical release.
Impact of New Rules from China
China is considering new rules through the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology that could ban embedded door handles and require a mechanical backup for all cars. Holzhausen stated that Tesla is ready to adapt, describing the future solution as very good.
When to Expect Changes
So far, Tesla has not announced when the updated handles will appear or if they can be installed on already released vehicles. This question remains open for owners concerned about safety.
Innovations in the automotive industry often face safety challenges, and Tesla is no exception. It is important for manufacturers to respond quickly to such issues, especially when they concern people’s lives and health. Future changes in door handle design may become a standard for other manufacturers who also use similar technologies.
