Tesla is reconfiguring its car door handles so occupants can more easily unlock them manually when the power fails. This follows a report revealing more than 140 complaints of failed locks, which prompted the launch of a federal investigation Monday.
As Bloomberg reports, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Monday it’s investigating around 174,000 Model Y cars from 2021 to determine if some doors are defective. The announcement was prompted by a September 10 report by Bloomberg revealing more than 140 reports of doors malfunctioning on different Tesla models since 2018, including several incidents of occupants being trapped inside burning vehicles.
As Fast Company reports, Tesla’s design chief Franz von Holzhausen said on a podcast Wednesday that the company plans to streamline the interior handle design so both the manual and electronic door-release functions are in the same place. Fast Company explains that most of the time, occupants push an electronic button to unlock the door. In the event that the electronic component fails, occupants have to find the manual release, which is in a completely separate place — and it’s in a different location for each model.
Per Fast Company, the manual release for the Model Y’s door is located between the door and the door handle, and in the Model S, it’s under the carpet below the rear seats. Bloomberg notes that exterior door handles can also malfunction when the power fails, but it’s unclear if Tesla’s redesign would solve the problem.
Von Holzhausen explained on the podcast that the design update is intended to be more intuitive for occupants during an emergency.
“So, in the moment that you’re in a panic situation, the muscle memory to go to what you know is right there,” von Holzhausen said. “You just pull a little bit further on the lever and you have the mechanical release.”
Per Bloomberg, Tesla didn’t say what prompted the change, but as Yahoo News UK reports, a horrific crash occurred in Germany on September 7 resulting in a father and two children burning alive in a Tesla after the locks failed and they became trapped.
As Reuters reports, Tesla recalled over 120,000 Model S and Model X vehicles in 2023 due to the doors potentially unlocking and opening during a crash.
Image: Smith Collection/Gado; Getty Images
