- The NHTSA opens an investigation into Tesla electric door handles
- Chinese authorities could completely prohibit them
- VW Boss says that hunting door handles are “terrible to work”
Tesla was undoubtedly the first major major automobile brand to introduce electronic door handles in 2012, when the style mechanism of the style on the model remained in the body hunting of the body, then broke out as if by magic each time the vehicle is unlocked.
The company even has a page on its website dedicated to the way of living with them.
It is a technically neat design feature that has now been copied by several car brands, including Range Rover, Porsche and Myriad Chinese EV.
But in addition to being horribly confusing towards anyone who is not aware of the technology, the handling door handles are now examined by several authorities which question their safety.
Because News China said that the country’s regulators have launched the investigation process on fully retractable door handles due to security problems, which suggests that there could be a pure and simple ban that new vehicles offer them.
The same website cites the crash tests of China Insurance Automotive Safety Index (C-AISI) which revealed that vehicles with electronic door handles only obtained a success rate of 67% door in side collisions.
In the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into around 174,000 Tesla Model Y cars of the 2021 model year following several complaints from owners that they could not unlock the doors after having stopped, according to the Financial Times.
There were cases where the occupants found themselves trapped inside Teslas after the death of the 12V battery. Unless the owners know the emergency liberation protocol, a number of cases had to resort to the rupture of the windows.
Tesla has now answered, telling Bloombergthat that it rethinks her door handles to make them more intuitive for people in “a panic situation”.
This update will apparently combine electronic and manual door release mechanisms in one button, Tesla’s design head, Franz Von Holzhausen, saying “We will also have a very good solution for this” in response to these potential Chinese regulations.
VW boss says no to rinse door handles
Thomas Schäfer, the CEO of Volkswagen Carfen Cars, said to say that flush door handles are beautiful but are “terrible to work”.
Speaking at the IAA mobility fair, Schäfer made a boost at home the importance of easy -to -use functions for customers. “We certainly have suitable door handles on cars and customers appreciate it,” he added.
In addition to offering tiny improvements in aerodynamic performance, hunting door handles are largely a choice of style or design, offering a touch of technological theater, many customers have been convinced.
But they are horrible to use, are often completely stuck when they are frozen, with the potential to trap the little fingers inside the mechanism.
I took custody of a Porsche Taycan Turbo for a few weeks this year and I experienced pinched figures several times.
Similarly, I also knew the door handles completely closed on an Xpeng G6, ahead of us inside for a hot water jug just to enter the vehicle. I was also trapped in a first Tesla Model X, but that’s another story.
Admittedly, this problem is not limited to fully rinsed door handles, but it is exacerbated by a functionality which is not quite necessary.
Now we could see the authorities tightening for good security reasons, killing a large automotive annoyance. Alleluia.
