There are more than 100,000 of them roaming Norwegian roads. In August, it was 11 years since the first Tesla with more than two seats was delivered to a Norwegian consumer.
The “affordable” and stylish electric car simply drove Norway out of Tesla juice. The fact that buyers of electric cars avoided taxes and gained a number of advantages in traffic did not make the car less popular.
All modern Tesla cars share a distinctive design trait; The door handles are hidden inside the car's body. As many have likely experienced during their first encounter with a Tesla, understanding how to open a door is not always easy.
The design step was taken at the request of Tesla founder Elon Musk, but it is not only related to the benefits.
German newspaper Handelsblatt At the end of February I mentioned the Tesla accident where it went horribly wrong. One summer day in 2022, a German man was driving his Tesla Model S. He had three passengers in the car, one in the front seat and two in the back.
At some point, the driver lost control of the car, veered off the road and collided with a tree. The driver was saved by an airbag and a seat belt. And so did the passenger sitting in the front seat next to him.
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The teenagers were locked up – they died
But for the passengers in the back seat, a teenage couple, it was worse. They were unconscious after the collision.
The driver and front passenger quickly exited the car as it was nearly filled with smoke from the car's battery – which caught fire after the collision.
Two soldiers who were nearby came to help. They tried desperately to get the two teens unconscious in the backseat of the burning wreck, but the door wouldn't budge.
– It can become a death trap
Handelsblatt wrote that the rear door handles would not open as usual because the car's battery had burned out. In the end it was too late.
On Tuesday last week, the driver, a 20-year-old man, had to appear in court in connection with the fatal crash. Newspaper Berliner Zeitung Tesla is not a defendant in the case, but the newspaper wrote that questions about the car are nonetheless a constant topic in court.
One of the three witnesses, who at the scene tried to remove the unconscious teens from the back seat door of the car, explained to the court that they were unable to open the door.
– Car door handles are recessed, and they certainly look good, but apparently they can also develop into a death trap, one witness said in court.
Relatives of the deceased teenagers told Handelsblatt newspaper that they were considering legal action against the car giant.
Tesla denies there are problems with the door handles in accidents and refers to the car owner's manual, which explains how to open the doors in emergency situations.
He was locked in a burning Tesla
Danish Berlingsky He also mentioned Tesla handles and that in several places warnings are issued on how they will operate in the event of an accident.
The newspaper points to an ongoing class action lawsuit against Tesla in California, which specifically concerns the defective door handles.
They also mention a case from Canada, where a Tesla owner was about to be burned inside the car when it caught fire.
– I couldn't open the doors. He said: I can't open the windows according to CTV Television Channel.
He told the channel he panicked and didn't have time to read the owner's manual on what to do and ended up kicking out the window to get to safety.
– Imagine if he was an old person who could not kick the window, says Jamil Gutta North Shore News.
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No information has been received from Tesla
Nettavisen has been in contact with the Oslo Fire and Rescue Service. When they arrive at the scene, time is running out. If there are people in the car, they should be removed as quickly as possible.
Tesla has it in the past pronounced They have contacted rescue personnel around the world that their car doors do not necessarily open normally after a collision.
Communications director for the Oslo Fire and Rescue Agency, Sigurd Folgero Dalén, told Nettavisen that they never received any specific information about this from Tesla. He adds that this is a problem that applies to many new cars.
Dallin says the response from rescue teams is that this is a familiar dilemma for many car brands that have electric handles.
He adds that they have access to information about different cars via a system called “Crash Recovery.”
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Tesla: I'm not sure you can open it from the outside
all by herself Websites On the other hand, there are instruction manuals on how to handle a Tesla as rescue personnel at the scene of an accident. She says the following:
– After a collision, it may not be possible to open the doors and luggage compartment from the outside. So it may be necessary to launch it in another way, Tesla's letter says.
Nettavisen contacted Tesla, but was unsuccessful in getting a response from the car manufacturer.
Swedish Roads Administration: – We are following up
National Road Administration press officer Simen Narjord told Nettavisen that passenger cars sold and registered in Norway are type approved – an approval common throughout the EU/EEA.
– In the type approval, a number of technical requirements for door hinges and locking systems were specified, Narjord says and lists:
- Doors must not be openable by forces applied from within or under strong gravitational forces (regulated by United Nations regulations: UN Reg. 11)
- In addition, the doors must not open on their own during standard crash tests (regulated by UN regulations: UN Reg. 95).
- After a standardized crash test, the doors must be openable from the outside without the use of special tools.
He adds that it is entirely possible for the doors not to open if the forces and deformations applied are greater than in a standard crash test.
-We have no concrete knowledge of accidents in Norway as Tesla doors cannot be opened in connection with an accident. However, we will follow current events/incidents involving vehicles with electric doors, says Narjord.
Furthermore, he adds, you can inform the importer, manufacturer or the relevant Norwegian Road Administration if there is a deviation in the door opening mechanism after a collision.
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