Save StorySave this storySave StorySave this story<\/p>\n
Car door handles seem innocuous. Tesla\u2019s electronic, retractable ones\u2014since imitated by plenty of global automakers\u2014have become a symbol of the automaker's willingness to work from design-first principles, reimagining what the car of the future might look like, electric-style.<\/p>\n
But in September, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation into the Tesla 2021 Model Y\u2019s door handles. More than 140 consumers have complained to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about the door handles, according to a Bloomberg report published last month.<\/p>\n
Drivers alleged the handles have gotten stuck or malfunctioned, especially when cars\u2019 low-voltage batteries failed. Government filings highlight parents\u2019 reports that their children were trapped inside their vehicles, unable to find or activate rear-door mechanical releases, after their adults exited the car. At least four alleged the need to \u201cbreak a window to regain entry into the vehicle,\u201d according to the agency. Tesla has since promised to redesign the handles.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the family members of two California teenagers who died after the Cybertruck they were riding in caught fire in a crash sued the automaker, alleging that Tesla knew about the difficulties of manually opening its doors before the teenagers were trapped inside.<\/p>\n
Now new Chinese regulations would force the door handle issue in the world\u2019s biggest automotive market\u2014rules that, given the size and power of China\u2019s auto market, could soon show up in other parts of the world.<\/p>\n
The proposed rules, posted by China\u2019s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology last month and set to be finalized after a comment period in late November, would require mechanical release handles on the inside and outside of every car, which would have to be operable without tools after accidents. The rules also appear to nix flush door handles by requiring automakers to build the handles with enough room for a hand to grip behind them.<\/p>\n
If the rules are finalized as written, they\u2019ll kick in as early as mid-2027\u2014a date that\u2019s around the corner for many global automakers, given their multiyear vehicle design and development process.<\/p>\n
Making door handle changes quickly could prove a pricey and complicated challenge. How pricey and complicated comes down to each automaker\u2019s design. \u201cThere\u2019s a real-estate problem in the door space,\u201d says Amy Broglin-Peterson, who teaches supply chain management at Michigan State University's Broad College of Business and consults in the automotive industry. Between the electronics, insulation, wiring for other parts, speakers, and other parts sandwiched into doors: \u201cAny time you have design changes, that messes up other things,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
The issues could cascade beyond the design. The auto manufacturing industry operates on strict production schedules. Though it builds in time to validate and test whatever new features come in each new model, the sudden intro of a design change late in the process could throw off the delicate timetable.<\/p>\n
In this decade, China\u2019s auto industry has shocked the world by racing ahead of legacy automakers, quickly developing, with government support, ever newer, cheaper, and more technologically advanced vehicles on shorter production schedules. The country is the world\u2019s largest automotive market; it\u2019s expected to manufacture a full third of the world\u2019s cars by 2030. Still, quickly complying with new design regulations won\u2019t be easy for domestic Chinese automakers either, says Broglin-Peterson. \u201cMechncial release requires a mechanical assembly,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s not just, you write some code.\u201d<\/p>\n
Automaker\u2019s door handle trouble likely won\u2019t end in China. The new rules could lead to cascading responses from other global regulators. It\u2019s a now-familiar pattern: China, once a place with lax protections, has forged ahead of the rest of the world in setting guidelines for electric vehicle battery safety and recycling, and autonomous vehicle tech. \u201cThis is a classic example of China setting the guardrails early: protecting consumers while quietly shaping global design standards,\u201d Bill Russo, the CEO of Automobility, a Shanghai-based advisory firm, wrote in an email.<\/p>\n
For many years, says Raphael Zammit, the chair of the transportation design department at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, flush electronic door handles were the stuff of futuristic concept cars. \u201cThe fact that Elon Musk and Tesla put it into production was, frankly, pretty amazing,\u201d he says. Their rise was linked with the increasing popularity of electric vehicles; tucking door handles into the doors of cars was meant to reduce their drag coefficient, leading to increased battery efficiency. Or so the theory went: Back-of-the-envelope math suggests the tweak maybe<\/em> adds a mile of range. Maybe. Either way, the handles became a \u201cdemarcation of luxury,\u201d Zammit says.<\/p>\n Indeed, electronic door handles can be found on many luxury vehicles, including some made by Volkswagen, General Motors, Ford, and Mercedes-Benz. Jake Fisher, the senior director of the Consumer Reports\u2019 Auto Test Center, tested several of those vehicles\u2019 electronic handles. While all had emergency mechanical releases, as the Chinese regulations mandate, some were in places that could be difficult to find in an emergency\u2014on the floor, in shadow, or, as in the rear seats of the 2021 Model Y under investigation by NHTSA, under a slot at the bottom of the rear door pocket. The best emergency mechanical releases, Consumer Reports found, were those that simply needed to be pulled a bit harder than usual to open, an intuitive reaction in an emergency.<\/p>\n It\u2019s something Tesla seems to understand. \u201cThe idea of combining the electronic one and manual one into one button makes a lot of sense,\u201d Tesla head designer Franz von Holzhausen told Bloomberg News. Indeed, the automaker will now be redesigning the door handle, combining an internal mechanical release with its electronic one. \u201cIt really helps the muscle memory of reaching for something that\u2019s there every day, so you intuitively do the same thing\u201d in an emergency, he said in an interview. Tesla, which disbanded its public relations team in 2020, didn\u2019t respond to WIRED\u2019s questions, including those about why Tesla didn't make the changes sooner or whether the proposed Chinese rules would require further redesigns.<\/p>\n As with the door handles, \u201cwe do see automakers literally reinventing the wheel for no good purpose with mechanisms and designs that are demonstrably worse,\u201d says Consumer Reports\u2019 Fisher.<\/p>\n The US electric automaker Rivian is also reportedly redesigning the flush, electronic door handles on its next generation of SUVs and trucks, moving the rear manual interior release away from its current location behind an unlabeled panel. The automaker doesn\u2019t sell vehicles in China. A spokesperson declined to comment on the report and wrote in a statement that Rivian\u2019s current and future vehicles \u201cmeet or exceed all Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, including passenger egress from all doors in the event of a crash or emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n But automakers have declined to say how the Chinese rules will affect their designs. General Motors is reviewing and providing technical input to China\u2019s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, spokesperson Bill Grotz wrote in a statement. \u201cUntil the new regulations are finalized, we cannot comment on vehicle portfolio implications,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Mercedes-Benz spokesperson Yifei Wu wrote in a statement that Mercedes-Benz vehicles are designed to unlock and extend their exterior door handles when the vehicles' air bag units detect a crash. \u201cWe are watching this topic closely and will of course adapt accordingly, if this [Chinese] proposal will change anything in the requirements,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n Ford and Volkswagen didn\u2019t respond to WIRED\u2019s requests for comment. But last month, VW CEO Thomas Sch\u00e4fer told the German DW News that its customers want mechanical buttons and handles that are easy to use. \u201cIt\u2019s all nice to have these flush door handles, but they are terrible to operate,\u201d he said. \u201cWe definitely have proper door handles on the cars, and customers appreciate it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Save StorySave this storySave StorySave this story Car door handles seem innocuous. Tesla\u2019s electronic, retractable ones\u2014since imitated by plenty of global automakers\u2014have become a symbol of the automaker's willingness to work from design-first principles, reimagining what the car of the future might look like, electric-style. 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