Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Some? Tesla Concerns about electric vehicles’ doors malfunctioning have led owners to purchase the device to rid themselves of their cars in an emergency.
In an extreme example, the son of Tesla owner Erin Getter was trapped inside her vehicle. cars electric doors lost powerPreventing the gator from freeing its young, bloomberg Report. A few weeks later, Geter bought a Honda to replace his Tesla. His new CR-V has distinctive door handles instead of Tesla’s touch-sensitive flush handles.
Other Tesla owners are reportedly preparing themselves and their passengers to flee the vehicles if necessary. Some drivers have said they are buying glass breakers to break their windows if they are stuck in their electric cars. Rideshare drivers with Tesla have reportedly started showing their passengers how to access the cars’ hidden manual door latches so they can escape in an emergency.
E-shop owners have taken advantage of this issue, by selling third-party accessories that help Tesla owners access their manual latches more easily. Content creators on YouTube and posters on Reddit have created guides for installing the mod.
Since 2018, US auto safety regulators have received more than 140 complaints reporting electric car doors – and not just from Tesla EVs – that were either stuck or otherwise damagedaccording to Bloomberg NewsThe report found that doors that malfunction often do so after accidents,
Tesla’s chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, said in September during an appearance on Bloomberg’s Hot Pursuit! Podcast that the company is redesigning the doors to make it easier and faster to escape from the car in a “panic situation.”
“I think the idea of combining electronic and manual into one button makes a lot of sense,” he said. “It’s something we’re working on.”
This is probably a bitter pill to swallow for the company, as it introduced and popularized the flush handle. Fans of the design note that it gives the vehicles a sleek look, but the lack of an easily accessible manual latch means that when the car loses power, the doors do not function.
Chad Lincoln, an Uber driver in Tennessee, said he rented a 2022 Tesla Model 3 for work after his normal vehicle was damaged in an accident. He said he realized he needed to give his customers a safety orientation to ensure they could escape from the vehicle in case of an emergency.
“We asked our flight attendant how to get out and how to pull the strap,” he told Bloomberg.
“The safety concerns with manual release are really big to me,” Lincoln said.
“I take my responsibility for the safety of our passengers really seriously,” he said.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said a product that fails to provide passengers with a proper means of exiting their vehicles could be grounds for a recall.
Independent Tesla has been requested to comment.