Tesla Faces New Lawsuit Over Faulty Door Handles

Tesla is in the spotlight once again over its sleek door handle design, following a fresh lawsuit claiming persistent malfunctions.

Class-Action Complaint From Florida

The electric vehicle manufacturer has been served with a class-action lawsuit concerning the unreliable performance of door handles in its Model S electric sedans. The legal action was initiated on Friday in Florida by John Urban, a Tesla owner from Maitland, representing those who acquired or leased Model S cars from 2014 to 2016.

The complaint argues that the innovative door handles, designed to extend as one approaches, frequently malfunction after a short span of use. This defect has reportedly left the vehicles inaccessible and poses a potential safety hazard in critical situations.

Incidents of Handle Failure

According to the complaint, by 2022, three out of four door handles on Urban's 2015 Model S 'Ludicrous' had stopped working, including the driver’s entry point. As a temporary measure, he had to enter the car through the passenger side until repairs could be made.

The suit claims Tesla had prior knowledge, or should have been aware, of this defect. It points to a redesign in the door handles of post-2016 Model S vehicles as evidence of addressing the reliability issues, with newer models rarely facing similar problems.

Legal Challenges and Safety Concerns

This isn't Tesla's first encounter with legal challenges over its door handles. The company was a trailblazer in introducing these electronically operated handles that align with the car's surface, which was a substantial appeal for early buyers.

Nevertheless, several lawsuits have pointed out that these handles may fail, particularly if the vehicle's low-voltage battery is drained—potentially trapping occupants during a crisis.

In a notable incident, the parents of two college students who perished in a Cybertruck accident in California brought a lawsuit against Tesla in October, claiming that the students were trapped inside the burning vehicle when the electric door system malfunctioned.

In a similar vein, the family of two individuals from Wisconsin who lost their lives after their 2016 Model S crashed into a tree also sued Tesla, citing the door handle system's failure during the crash.

Continued Examination and Administrative Oversight

The Texas-based carmaker is currently under scrutiny by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration following reports from some Model Y owners that their children were trapped inside due to handle failures.

While Tesla vehicles come equipped with manual door release features, critics argue these can be hard to reach in emergencies. Tesla's chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, mentioned in a Bloomberg interview last September that the company is revisiting the door handle design to make the manual controls more conspicuous.

Additionally, this issue has caught the attention of lawmakers. Recently, a U.S. House Representative proposed legislation mandating that all vehicles feature clearly identifiable manual release mechanisms for doors.

Tesla's latest update on its safety page indicates that their vehicles are designed to unlock automatically for emergency entry. However, a footnote cautions that certain safety functionalities may not be present in all models, depending on their production date.