By Matthew Miller, Hannah Elliott and Kara Carlson, Bloomberg
Tesla Inc. is engaged on a redesign of its door handles, which have drawn scrutiny over security incidents that trapped passengers inside their autos.
Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s longtime design chief, mentioned the corporate is trying to mix the digital and guide door-release mechanisms, that are presently in separate areas. He mentioned the choice is meant to make the handles extra intuitive for occupants in “a panic situation.”
“The idea of combining the electronic one and the manual one together into one button, I think, makes a lot of sense,” he mentioned Wednesday in an interview for Bloomberg’s Scorching Pursuit! podcast. “That’s something that we’re working on.”
NHTSA, the US auto security regulator, this week opened an investigation into whether or not some Tesla doorways are faulty, citing incidents wherein exterior handles stopped working and trapped kids inside. The probe, which covers an estimated 174,290 Mannequin Y SUVs from the 2021 mannequin 12 months, “will also assess the approach used by Tesla to supply power to the door locks and the reliability of the applicable power supplies,” the company mentioned.
Von Holzhausen didn’t specify what prompted the corporate to discover a redesign. Tesla didn’t instantly reply to a request for additional remark.
Widespread Design
In his 17 years at Tesla, von Holzhausen has led design growth throughout its automobile lineup in addition to Tesla’s lately launched diner in Los Angeles.
Tesla autos are outfitted with inside guide releases, however the areas could be tough to search out, notably for passengers within the rear seats. The position varies by mannequin and 12 months. Exterior door handles can even change into inoperable within the occasion of energy loss.
The door design just isn’t distinctive to Tesla, however the carmaker has popularized sure traits, together with flush-to-the-door handles. Critics have mentioned the design can complicate rescue efforts and put the onus on passengers to search out guide launch latches they’re not accustomed to utilizing.
Teslas fare nicely in government-administered crash assessments, however most assessments are designed to measure impression survivability and never whether or not occupants can get out of the automobile afterward. In China, a high regulator is reportedly contemplating a ban on totally hid door handles, and Europe has applied incremental measures to enhance post-crash rescue protocols.
Tesla is presently finding out particulars of the potential change in China, von Holzhausen mentioned, and is able to make mandatory modifications.
“We’ll have a really good solution for that,” he mentioned.
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Initially Revealed: September 18, 2025 at 8:12 AM PDT
