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

Tesla is redesigning its door handles to reduce the risk of occupants being trapped inside its vehicles, following a safety probe initiated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Chief designer Franz von Holzhausen revealed the company is working on combining the electronic and manual door release mechanisms into a single, more accessible button. This redesign effort comes shortly after Bloomberg News published an investigation highlighting multiple incidents where Tesla owners or passengers were stuck inside their cars after crashes, and just one day after NHTSA opened an official investigation based on nine complaints about door handle failures. The main issues with Tesla’s current door handles stem from their reliance on electronic locks that can fail if the car’s battery system loses power, and the difficulty in locating and using the manual release mechanisms. Although Tesla’s owner manuals include instructions for using an external power source to unlock dead electronic locks, affected owners reportedly did not receive low-voltage battery warnings, leaving them unaware of the problem. The safety concerns have also drawn attention internationally, with