Tesla to Redesign Door Handles Following 140 Reports of Trapped Occupants, Feds Investigating

"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."

"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."

"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."

Tesla will reconfigure interior door handles to place manual and electronic release functions together so occupants can more easily unlock doors manually if power fails. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into roughly 174,000 Model Y vehicles from 2021 after Bloomberg reported more than 140 complaints of door malfunctions across Tesla models since 2018, including occupants trapped in burning vehicles. Current manual releases are in different locations by model, such as between the door and handle on the Model Y and beneath rear-seat carpet on the Model S. Exterior handles can also fail, and it remains unclear whether the redesign addresses them.

Read at sfist.com