Tesla’s door worries are not going away.
An ongoing controversy about an alleged Tesla door design flaw got two new wrinkles this week, as troubling, who-knew-what-and-when questions about vehicle door handles began to swirl, along with a fresh federal investigation triggered by a harrowing complaint letter.
As part of a months-long investigation by Bloomberg, a project timed to coincide with high profile inquiries from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the news outlet reported on Monday that Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk not only knew about the design flaw of the electronic door releases on the company’s vehicles, but advocated that they continued to be used.
And on Tuesday, the NHTSA announced a new investigation specifically into the Model 3.
According to Bloomberg‘s sources, engineers warned Musk against the electronic releases for the interior door handles during Tesla Model 3 development. The setup demands power from a 12-volt battery to operate the door with an electronic button. However, to address engineer concerns and meet federal motor vehicle safety standards, a manual release was also installed for passengers to use in an emergency or if the 12-volt battery was depleted.
