Could The Cybercab Preview Tesla’s New Door Release?

• A set of new-looking door releases were spotted in the Tesla Cybercab.
• Tesla committed to changing its door handles last year after regulators began to crack down on electronic releases.
• It’s not clear if these new releases will make it into Tesla’s existing vehicle lineup.

Door handle technology isn’t exactly something that you expect to be excited about. It’s just something you expect to work. However, in the EV age, it’s not as cut-and-dry as just pulling a lever, and that’s gotten various automakers in hot water with regulators across the globe.

Tesla is one of those brands. Its door handles—both the ones on the outside of the car and the releases on the inside—have long been the subject of controversy. The automaker pledged to redesign them last year, and it looks like we may have our first glimpse of how the new latches could function thanks to a close-up with the upcoming Tesla Cybercab. Let’s see what’s changed.

Photo by: InsideEVs

A short look at the handles comes courtesy of a YouTube video posted by Tesla influencers Kim Java and Josh West. The video shows the duo briefly talking about the internal door release mechanism and how it functions. The Tesla blog Not A Tesla App first spotted the discussion of the door mechanism. 

Now, sure, if you want to open the door on the Cybercab, you could use the button on the giant center screen. But most logical people, especially those in an emergency where there might not be power, will reach for the door. That’s where the need for a smarter, easier-to-use physical latch comes into play.

The video shows a door pull that opens upward, rather than the kind of button Tesla has historically used to pop doors. 

Based on the description given in the video of how the door release mechanism functions, the new latch combines the electronic and mechanical releases together into a single progressive lever. A short pull is said to actuate the electronic release, but if the operator pulls the handle a bit further, it releases the latch mechanically. The lever also clearly has the word “Open” marked in braille to help passengers find it more easily.

Source: Kim Java/Josh West 247 (YouTube)

Photo by: YouTube

We don’t actually see this two-stage release in action in the video, but if the new latch truly does operate as described, it would signal a departure from how Teslas currently function. Historically, Tesla has separated the electronic and mechanical releases into their own controls so that the operator doesn’t accidentally pull the mechanical latch and potentially cause damage to the car’s exterior glass or trim.

To be clear, Tesla has not publicly stated that this latch is its new-style latch, or if the latch will make it into any other vehicle than the Cybercab. However, this does mark the first time that a latch like this, instead of a button, has been spotted on a Tesla. That suggests this could be the new dual-action lever that Tesla is working on implementing in its lineup. 

Tesla’s chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, told Bloomberg last year that Tesla wants to make its latches easier to use in “a panic situation.” He described a very similar mechanism:

“We actually have a mechanical release that’s basically right at the electronic one too, and we’re combining the two. So in the moment that you’re in a panic situation, the muscle memory to go to what you know is right there. So you just pull a little bit further on the lever, and you have the mechanical release. So that’s something that we’re working on.”

A single button system is easy to understand, easy to label, and potentially simple to standardize across all of its vehicles. Most importantly, it could easily save a life in the event of an emergency.

The automaker told the world that it was working to redesign its door handles last September after Bloomberg published an article that linked the door handle designs as a contributing factor to several injuries. It went on to attribute at least 15 fatalities to Tesla’s door handles later that year.

But the bigger question is whether or not these kinds of latches will make it to all four doors. The rear doors in Tesla’s cars have had hard-to-find emergency releases, like ones hidden behind a speaker grille or below a panel in the door pockets. Tesla has revised this over the years, and it isn’t the only brand to do this. In fact, other automakers have received criticism over potentially hard-to-use latches—and rightfully so, because people don’t have time to learn how to use a new system when in an emergency.

Tesla needed to make this change. Not just because it’s a smart thing to do, but because regulators around the world are cracking down on this as a safety measure.

It’s not clear if this is the updated release that will make it in Tesla’s other cars, or how this system will stand the test of the end user. But it could be a much welcomed change to anyone who has ever attempted to exit a Tesla for the first time.