Car door handles have a very simple function: They’re there to make sure you can, you know, open the doors to a car. They are also extremely vital, as anyone who has encountered a frozen one can tell you. Or anyone who owns a Tesla, apparently.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched an investigation of Tesla following multiple reports of door handles malfunctioning on its vehicles. In the interest of improving aerodynamics, Tesla door handles are designed to be flush against the vehicle and then pop out electronically when needed to open the door. This is all well and good until that electronic system malfunctions, as electronics do.
Multiple Tesla drivers have reported that their door handles were malfunctioning due to low-voltage battery problems. In at least nine instances, parents were unable to reopen the doors to retrieve their children from the back seat. Tesla vehicles have manual door releases on the inside, but not everyone is always able to operate them, especially young children. The investigation is currently focused on some 174,290 Model Y SUVs, though that scope could widen in the future.
