Tesla, which made hidden door handles popular, is going to make some changes to its door handles.
On September 17th, local time, Tesla Design Director Franz von Holzhausen revealed in an interview with foreign media that Tesla is redesigning its controversial door handle system. The new design aims to make it easier for passengers to open the doors in an emergency. He also mentioned that Tesla is studying the Chinese market's demands for door handles and may make adjustments if necessary.
Foreign media commented that this improvement is a response to the US regulatory authorities' investigation into the safety of Tesla's car doors.
According to CCTV News, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched an investigation into approximately 174,000 2021 Tesla Model Y electric vehicles because the electric door handles of this model may fail, posing a safety hazard.
Documents released on the NHTSA's official website show that in nine reported accidents, children were trapped in the back seat of the vehicle because the electronic door handles failed and the doors could not be opened.
Car owners said they were locked out of their cars when they got out to pick up their children in the back seat, or were unable to open the car door after leaving their children in the car for a short time. Several car owners said they eventually had to break the window glass to rescue the trapped children.
The report also mentioned that the vehicle did not display a low battery voltage warning at the time of the incident.
It should also be pointed out that although Tesla cars are equipped with manual door opening devices inside, this "semi-mechanical" door handle is generally hidden, and it is difficult for children trapped in the car to find or operate this device. Some car owners are even unaware of the existence of this device.
NHTSA said the problem may be related to insufficient power supply from the vehicle's low-voltage battery. The agency is further evaluating the scope and severity of the problem. If it is ultimately determined that the electronic door handle problem poses an unreasonable risk to the vehicle, the relevant vehicles will face recall.
Hidden electric door handles became popular with Tesla's adoption. Automakers claim the design aims to improve range through aerodynamics, but many industry insiders have suggested that while such improvements are negligible in improving range, they significantly increase safety concerns.
In recent years, with the rapid development of electric and intelligent vehicles, concealed door handles have become widely used due to their aesthetics and technological appeal. While these door handles are becoming increasingly diverse in their operating principles and designs, they have also exposed numerous issues during their application, including insufficient strength, potential safety risks in control logic, difficulty in identification and operation (due to concealed and unmarked areas), failure during power outages, finger pinching, and potential escape and rescue risks.
The above problems bring potential risks to escape and rescue. For example, in accidents such as collisions and fires, power outages may cause the electric exterior door handles and electric interior door handles to fail, increasing obstacles to rescue and escape.
Hidden electric door handles have also attracted the attention of Chinese regulatory authorities.
On May 8th of this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) publicly solicited opinions on the planned revision of the mandatory national standard "Technical Requirements for Safety of Automobile Door Handles." This standard specifies requirements for the installation of emergency interior door handles, as well as marking requirements for concealed interior door handles and emergency interior door handles. Once implemented, this new regulation will fill a regulatory gap in the new field of concealed electric door handles.
