Tesla’s European Regulator Says Door Safety a ‘Key Priority’

Tesla Inc.’s safety regulators in Europe are joining a broader global effort to more closely scrutinize a door handle design popularized by the world’s leading electric vehicle maker.

Dutch authority RDW, which inspects and approves Tesla vehicles for sale in the European Union, said Thursday that regulators will push for regulations to ensure that occupants can safely exit vehicles after a crash and be rescued by first responders.

The authority’s comments follow a Bloomberg News investigation into battery power outages and loss of function related to Tesla’s doors for drivers and passengers entering.

“Doors must always be operable. Where existing regulations are being reduced due to the introduction of new door concepts, this issue is being addressed in the relevant committees,” an RDW spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Read more: NHTSA launches investigation into 174,000 Tesla Model Y cars over door handle failures

An RDW spokesman said the opening of power doors in the event of an accident “is a key priority for both EuroNCAP and UNES,” citing the European Safety Assessment and Classification Organization and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

Tesla representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

Days after Bloomberg published its report on Tesla doors on September 10, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into a defect in door handles on some Model Y crossovers, the automaker’s best-selling vehicle. Tesla’s longtime design chief, Franz von Holzhausen, then told Bloomberg that the automaker is working on making its doors more intuitive to use.

China, meanwhile, has proposed regulations requiring all passenger vehicles to feature mechanical door releases that are accessible from both the inside and outside of the car. The rules aim to eliminate the flush exterior handle design championed by Tesla and copied by rivals including China’s Xiaomi Corp.

‘People are dying’

According to a UNECE report, the Netherlands is part of a global safety working group that discussed the difficulties in opening electrically activated doors in May this year. The minutes of the meeting noted that the visiting expert from Germany “indicated that he had begun to consider this issue and saw the urgent need” for a solution to ensure the safe opening of doors after an accident.

Last month, a man and two children died after a Tesla crashed in Shorte, according to Germany’s Focus magazine. A first responder told the publication they tried but were unable to pull the children out of the car.

“This is not an ideological issue – people are dying because they can’t get out of their cars when they count every second,” Antonio Avenoso, executive director of the European Transport Safety Council, said in a Sept. 24 statement. The Brussels-based nonprofit is calling for speeding up regulatory work and the need to introduce recalls across the EU for vehicles that can leave people stranded in an emergency.

Although the organization lacks regulatory powers, it participates in UNIS work as an observer.

PHOTO: A visitor interacts with the door release button on a Tesla Inc. Cybertruck electric vehicle in Berlin. Photo credit: Christine Boxey/Bloomberg

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