Tesla mulls nixing hidden door handles and emergency levers

Faced with increased regulatory scrutiny over its car door handles, Tesla is preparing to change their iconic design, both on the inside and out.

A recent probe by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigates a number of cases where people got locked in the Model Y and couldn’t be helped due to malfunctioning of the hidden handles, or couldn’t figure out how to exit the vehicle when its power went down.

Over in China, on the other hand, Beijing is preparing a ban on external door handles that are flush with the car’s body panel, as those have become an increasing source of frustration due to frequent malfunctions and in case of accidents. The move won’t only affect Tesla, but its chief designer Franz von Holzhausen said the EV maker is already mulling a total door handle overhaul. He recently sat for an interview from the upcoming autonomous Robovan, and mentioned that Tesla already has a “very good solution” regarding flush door handles should they become a regulatory target indeed.

Asked whether this solution will look like Ferrari’s flat handles that still offer a way to tug them out, Franz didn’t specify, but said he is not “worried about” its ergonomics or viability.

Speaking of improved ergonomics, Tesla will soon address the NHTSA door opening probe by merging the electronic and mechanical latch. Tesla doors open with the push of a button from the inside, but there is also a redundancy system in place in case power goes down during an emergency.

The mechanical lever that needs to be pulled in those situations is pretty visible at the front, but hidden under a lid in the cubby of the back doors. Those rear mechanical handles are often the source of dramatic stories about people stuck in rented Teslas, or kids not knowing how to exit, and those are exactly the kind of situations Tesla will aim to address by merging the electronic with mechanical latches. After all, opined Tesla’s head of design, people are already reaching out for the button to open their doors, so it makes sense to use that muscle memory during an emergency as well.

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Daniel Zlatev – Senior Tech Writer – 1875 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2021

Wooed by tech since the industrial espionage of Apple computers and the times of pixelized Nintendos, Daniel went and opened a gaming club when personal computers and consoles were still an expensive rarity. Nowadays, fascination is not with specs and speed but rather the lifestyle that computers in our pocket, house, and car have shoehorned us in, from the infinite scroll and the privacy hazards to authenticating every bit and move of our existence.