Tesla is replacing its flush door handles for the Chinese market

Tesla's Chief Designer, Franz von Holzhausen, revealed in an interview with Bloomberg that the company is redesigning its iconic flush door handles to meet the upcoming safety standards in China. However, it seems that Chinese regulators are not the only ones looking into the safety of such handles, and the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating more than 140 complaints regarding Tesla's door handles.

Engineers at Tesla are exploring ways to integrate the separate electronic and manual unlocking mechanisms into a single button, which would improve intuitiveness in critical situations.

Holzhausen said that the company is closely following the Chinese regulators, planning to ban fully hidden electronic door handles. Instead, carmakers would have to design semi-hidden or traditional handles and must include a mechanical redundancy. The new regulations will likely come into action in July 2027.

The US NHTSA, on the other hand, is investigating reported safety issues with Tesla door handles in around 174,000 Model Y vehicles produced in 2021. Reportedly, the electronic doors may not open during emergencies when the power is cut.

The complaints are not limited to Model Y only. Some Model S and Model 3 iterations are also affected by the issue.

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