Electronic door latches under scrutiny

A CONUNDRUM relating to how new flush-fitting car door handles function may be developing as safety regulators in Europe, China, and the US grapple with electronic door latch systems, particularly in EVs, amid safety concerns should egress from and/or access to the vehicle be required after a crash.

Of main concern is the potential failure of an electronic door latch if the car’s electrical system becomes inoperative in a crash potentially rendering the vehicle unopenable from outside or inside.

While a focus has been put on Tesla models in Europe and the US EVs have dedicated ancillary electrical systems unrelated to the drive battery while most newer models have automatic central locking that activates as soon as the vehicle is started… to prevent carjacking, some with a crash activated auto-unlock.

Tesla has been singled out by various regulators regarding its push button door latches despite its cars featuring manual mechanical secondary door latches to each door from the inside that are easy to access and operate.

While access to a seemingly unopenable electronic car door from the outside would simply require a window be smashed, safety regulators in Europe are joining an “expanding global effort to scrutinise electronic door latch design (popularised by Tesla) more closely”.

The European regulator says door safety is a ‘key priority’ exemplified in the Dutch authority RDW, which inspects and approves Tesla’s vehicles for sale in the European Union.

It said on 16 October that regulators will shore up rules to ensure that occupants can safely exit vehicles after a crash (if they are conscious) and be rescued by first responders.

Automotive News Europe says the authority’s comments follow an investigation into Tesla’s doors losing function in the event of battery power outages and entrapping drivers and passengers, including in cases where vehicles caught fire.

The latter would seem to be a something of a Furphy in light of the secondary manual interior door latches in Teslas mentioned earlier and the fact that, if needed, access from outside can be simply via a smashed window.

Failing to understand that often, crash damage prevents doors from being openable, an RDW spokesperson told Bloomberg, “Doors must always be operable, from the inside by occupants and from the outside by emergency responders, even in the event of a power failure”.

“The opening of electrically powered doors in the event of accident is a key priority for both Euro NCAP and UNECE,” the spokesperson continued, in reference to Europe’s safety testing and rating organization and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

“Where current regulations fall short due to the introduction of new door concepts, this issue is being addressed within the respective committees.”

In lockstep with Europe and days after Bloomberg published its report about Tesla doors on 10 September, the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened a defect investigation into the door handles on certain Model Y SUVs, the brand’s top-selling vehicle.

According to Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s long-time design chief, the manufacturer was working on making its door handles more intuitive to use.

“China has meanwhile proposed regulations requiring all passenger vehicles to feature mechanical door releases accessible from both inside and outside cars,” he said.

“The rules aim to eliminate the flush external handle design championed by Tesla and replicated by competitors including China’s Xiaomi.”

The Netherlands is part of a global safety working group that discussed difficulties with opening electrically activated doors in May of this year, according to a UNECE report.

Automotive News said the meeting minutes note that an expert in attendance from Germany “indicated that they had started to look into this issue and saw an urgent need” for solutions to “ensure safe opening of the doors after an accident”.

“This is not a theoretical problem. People are dying because they cannot get out of vehicles when every second counts,” said European Transport Safety Council executive director Antonio Avenoso.

“The Brussels-based non-profit is calling for regulatory work to be sped up and for recalls to be initiated in the EU for vehicles that can leave occupants trapped in emergency situations.”