Tesla is redesigning its door handles, making it less likely that people will catch inside the company's cars, chief designer Franz von Holzashen told Bloomberg News on Wednesday.
The news came a day after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into Tesla's door handles, and a week after the Bloomberg news investigation highlighted multiple instances where owners or passengers were trapped in cars after the crash.
According to Bloomberg, Von Holzhausen did not specify when Tesla made a decision to reconsider how the doors were handled. China has already pushed automakers to reconsider the use of completely hidden door handles due to safety concerns, but the country's top regulators have not taken any final steps.
One of the two obvious issues with Tesla door handles is that they use electronic locks. This can stop working if it does not receive power from the car's battery system. The other is that Tesla has built-in manual door releases in the car, but often it is difficult to find and access.
“I think the idea of combining electronic and manual into one button makes a lot of sense,” Von Holzhausen told Bloomberg. “That's what we're working on.”
After opening an investigation Tuesday, the NHTSA said the agency received nine complaints from Tesla owners who failed with door handles. In these four cases, the Safety Bureau said the owner must break the windows “to get back into the vehicle.”
Tesla includes instructions in the owner's manual explaining how to activate dead electronic door locks using external power sources, as both NHTSA and Bloomberg have pointed out. However, the NHTSA noted in a preliminary report that no owner contacted the agency reported seeing a low-voltage battery warning.
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