🚗 The door that won't open

Tesla's flush electronic door handles — recessed into the body for aerodynamics — go dead in a crash along with everything else. More than a dozen people survived the impact, then couldn't escape the burning car.

NHTSA rejected a defect investigation petition from a Silicon Valley engineer who had to climb out through a rear window after a head-on collision. Instead, per The Verge, the regulator is pursuing something broader: new standards that would require all automakers to include a clear emergency exit mechanism. Earliest likely outcome: 2030.

China banned electronic handles outright this year. Tesla has promised a redesign, on no particular timeline — the goal, says design chief Franz von Holzhausen, is handles that are more intuitive in a panic situation.

Which is one way to put it.