Tesla Model Y Door Handles Face Federal Safety Probe
▼ Summary
– Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency cut staff at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, leading to speculation about reduced oversight of Tesla.
– Despite Musk’s ties to the Trump administration, NHTSA recently opened a safety investigation into Tesla Model Y door handles.
– The investigation follows a Bloomberg report highlighting safety risks from Tesla’s retractable door handles, which rely on the car’s 12 V battery.
– If the battery fails, exterior door handles do not work, preventing first responders from rescuing occupants from burning vehicles.
– Some Tesla models lack interior emergency releases for rear doors, while newer ones have manual releases hidden under rear seat panels.
A federal safety investigation has been launched into the Tesla Model Y door handles, raising significant concerns about passenger safety in emergency situations. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) initiated the probe despite recent political pressures, signaling a continued commitment to regulatory oversight within the agency.
This development follows a detailed report highlighting the dangers associated with retractable door handles in Tesla vehicles. According to the findings, these handles depend entirely on the car’s 12-volt battery to function. If that power source fails during an accident, exterior door access becomes impossible, a flaw that has reportedly hindered rescue efforts and contributed to fatalities in vehicle fires.
Although front-seat occupants can use interior emergency releases, rear passengers face greater risks. Some Tesla models provide no internal method to open rear doors following a collision. Newer versions, including the Model 3 and Model Y, do include manual releases, but these are concealed beneath panels under the rear seats, making them difficult to locate in high-stress scenarios.
(Source: Ars Technica)
