Tesla is redesigning its door handles following security probe, Bloomberg investigation

Tesla is “engaged on” redesigning its door handles so they’re much less prone to entice folks inside the corporate’s automobiles, chief designer Franz von Holzhausen advised Bloomberg Information on Wednesday.

The information comes simply someday after the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) opened an probe into Tesla’s door handles, and one week after a Bloomberg Information investigation highlighted a number of situations the place homeowners or passengers have been caught of their automobiles following a crash.

Von Holzhausen didn’t specify when Tesla made the choice to rethink how its door handles work, in accordance with Bloomberg. China has already been pushing automakers to rethink the usage of totally hid door handles due to security considerations, though the nation’s prime regulator has not taken a ultimate motion.

One of many two obvious issues with Tesla’s door handles has been they use digital locks, which may cease working in the event that they aren’t receiving energy from the automobile’s battery system. The opposite is that, whereas Tesla does have guide door releases constructed into its automobiles, they’re typically exhausting to search out and tough to entry.

“The concept of mixing the digital one and the guide one collectively into one button, I feel, makes plenty of sense,” von Holzhausen advised Bloomberg. “That’s one thing that we’re engaged on.”

NHTSA opened its investigation on Tuesday after the company mentioned it had acquired 9 complaints from Tesla homeowners who skilled a failure with their door handles. In 4 of these circumstances, the security company mentioned the homeowners needed to break a window “to regain entry into the automobile.”

Tesla contains directions in its proprietor’s manuals that describe the best way to use an outdoor energy supply to activate lifeless digital door locks, as each NHTSA and Bloomberg have famous. However NHTSA famous in its preliminary report that not one of the homeowners who contacted the company reported seeing low-voltage battery warnings — which means they probably wouldn’t have identified what was responsible for the issue.