There has been a lot of opposition to electronic door handles recently, as multiple automakers, particularly Tesla, have been accused of making manual door releases very difficult to find and access in an emergency. Rivian is one of the companies that has reportedly decided to change this with its upcoming R2 SUV, and in a series of first-look videos released on Tuesday, we finally get to see what the company has changed.
First, the front doors open from the inside, similar to existing R1 vehicles. There is an electronic button to open the door, and the front of the interior handle incorporates a manual door release latch.
An electronic button has been added to the rear door, and the rear manual release has also been modified.
In R1 vehicles, passengers must first pull a panel from the door to access a “release code” that operates the manual latch. On the new R2 SUV, Rivian has moved this release code to the same position in front of the steering wheel as the front seat manual release, but it’s still tucked behind a piece of plastic that has to pop out, making it slightly more difficult to access than the front door manual release.
Since the R2 SUV won’t go into production for another few months, the company hasn’t given proper instructions on how to access this release. But here’s an image from a new video released by Zack Nelson of JerryRigEverything.
Although he didn’t pull out the actual cord, this is the best demonstration I’ve ever seen of what a passenger must do if they are in an R2 that somehow loses power and has limited release of the vehicle’s electric doors.
The manual release is still behind a piece of plastic and is not the most obvious or accessible way to open the door from the inside. But at least it’s in a more logical location than just hiding behind a panel.
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This situation does not occur often. But when it does, it’s usually during a major crash. This means that every moment can mean the difference between life and death.
Rivian isn’t the only company reconsidering how difficult it is to access manual releases. The most famous example is Tesla. Bloomberg News has found that at least 15 people died in crashes where there was evidence the occupants (or rescuers) were unable to open the doors. The company announced that it will change the handle design to address this issue.
Electronic door latches can also cause other problems. Last year, Ford had to issue a recall to fix a power delivery issue with the Mustang Mach-E’s electronic door latches.
