Another day and another interesting story from the UK. This one has come from The Examiner, part of the YorkshireLive portfolio, and it has seen a car expert raise some concerns about one of the features on some cars sold in the UK.
An expert from Which? has warned UK drivers against going for cars that have electronic door opening systems. It’s probably not a feature many people have; however, it has raised some serious safety concerns, and there is a ban set to come into force soon in one country.
Electric opening doors can come in various forms. The Peugeot 1007 was a budget car that had sliding doors, but these were heavy, and the car was quickly labelled as a gimmick. Other cars such as the Tesla Model X and many other EVs have embraced the technology in recent years.
But according to expert Michael Passingham, they should be actively avoided. He cited several scenarios in which they can become incredibly dangerous, and they could endanger lives if a car is involved in an accident. China has deemed them so dangerous that it has banned them on its cars.
The Problems With Electric Car Doors
Which? expert Michael Passingham said to The Examiner that he actively avoids the systems on cars that have them. Passingham joined the consumer site in 2017 and is passionate about the safety of drivers and pedestrians. He explained that the door opening systems rely on power buttons or sensors, and not a physical handle.
The problem with this is what happens in an emergency. “On a standard car door, the handles physically unlatch it,” said Passingham. “However, electric opening systems use buttons or sensors – requiring electricity – to unlatch the door from either the inside, outside, or both,” he added. This then leads to further problems if there is a power failure, with the doors becoming almost impossible to open.
“In the event of power failure, this can lead to doors becoming seemingly impossible to open, which is a potential nightmare for anybody trapped inside or a first responder attempting to gain access,” said Passingham. The doors do have manual releases, but Passingham also said that they can be hard to locate and will be even trickier to find if you are in an emergency situation.
China has banned hidden door handles on EVs
As there are no physical handles in sight, opening doors on cars like a Tesla, or most other EVs, could be a nightmare. In fact, the safety concerns are so high that China has banned them on all EVs, making it the first country to do so. Tesla and Elon Musk were the first to pioneer the controversial designs, which have caused two fatal crashes in China involving Xiaomi EVs.
Power failures prevented the doors from opening, leading to the deaths. Under China’s new rules, cars will only be allowed to be sold if they have a mechanical release on the inside and outside of the doors. These rules are coming into effect on January 1st 2027. If a car design has already been approved by authorities and is in the final stages of entering the Chinese market, the manufacturers will have two years to update the designs.