Tesla fights controversial NHTSA rule requiring door handles to open doors

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration unveiled a controversial regulatory framework on Tuesday that would strictly mandate all passenger vehicles to feature exterior and interior door handles capable of letting occupants out.

The proposed federal standard follows a string of recent incidents in which drivers of the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 became trapped inside their vehicles after power failures disabled the electronic push-button latches. Regulators noted that when the 12-volt accessory battery dies, the primary electronic release is disabled, leaving panicked drivers to hunt for a hidden mechanical release cable located under the window switch, beneath a rubber mat, or inside a speaker grille, depending on the model year. The agency argued that the inability to exit a rapidly burning chassis constitutes a safety defect.

Tesla immediately pushed back against the rulemaking, claiming that forcing a door to act like a door would introduce a breaking change to the vehicle's aerodynamic profile and drastically reduce highway range.