Tesla will redesign the door handles of its electric vehicles to combine electronic and manual mechanisms for opening and closing the doors, which are currently located separately.
This information was provided by Tesla’s design director, Franz von Holzhausen, to “Bloomberg News,” who clarified that the measure aims to make the door handles more intuitive for occupants in a “panic situation”.
This decision, now announced, comes after the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched an investigation into a failure of the door handles of the Tesla Model Y, which could affect 174,000 units from the 2021 model year.
Additionally, in 2023, Tesla recalled over 120,000 units of the Model S and Model X in the U.S. due to the risk of the doors opening during an accident.
Although not commenting on the NHTSA investigation, Franz von Holzhausen told “Bloomberg” that Tesla is studying the indication from a major regulatory body in China that is considering the possibility of soon banning hidden door handles.
