At Least 15 Dead as China Orders Record-Breaking Vehicle Recall

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China is carrying out a record-breaking vehicle recall involving nearly 4.3 million cars. Tesla accounts for about 3 million of the recalled vehicles. The recall orders fixes for "flush door handles," which can make doors difficult to open during accidents.

Reporter Kim Minpyo has the details.

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After a Tesla crashes into a highway guardrail and bursts into flames, other drivers smash the windows to attempt a rescue.

[Shouldn't we get out of the car and help? There's someone inside.]

It has been found that at least 15 passengers have died in Tesla fires because the doors could not be opened.

This is because the flush electronic door handles equipped on Tesla vehicles stop working during an accident or when power is cut off.

It is neither easy to open the doors from the inside nor for rescuers to open them from the outside.

Although safety concerns were raised even within Tesla, CEO Elon Musk reportedly insisted on using the flush door handles.

China has ordered nine automakers using flush electronic door handles to issue recalls and completely ban the installation of such handles starting next year.

The recall targets 4.27 million vehicles, including 2.98 million Teslas and 390,000 Xiaomis, marking the largest-scale recall in China's history.

Tesla plans to add software that automatically rolls down the windows in the event of an accident and attach labels indicating the location of the mechanical manual release mechanism.

In the United States, investigations into similar cases and discussions on making manual release mechanisms mandatory for new cars are underway.

[Rene Sanchez / Tesla Driver (June 2024): I didn't care. I begged the rescuers to tear the car in half just to get my grandchild out.]

As electric vehicles share similar flush door handle structures, China's latest recall is expected to impact other countries, including South Korea.

(Video Editing: Cho Muhwan)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.