Overview
- NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened a Dec. 23 defect investigation into an estimated 179,071 model year 2022 Model 3s over whether emergency door releases are readily accessible or clearly identifiable.
- The action is separate from a September preliminary evaluation into about 174,000 2021 Model Y vehicles for electronic exterior handles that may become inoperative.
- Agency filings note at least one injury and a complaint from a driver who said they were trapped after a 2023 crash and escaped by breaking a window, and they stress that an investigation does not equal a recall.
- Bloomberg reporting has identified at least 15 U.S. deaths over the past decade in crashes where door inoperability impeded escape or rescue, while lawsuits cite trapped occupants in a Wisconsin Model S fire and a Cybertruck crash.
- Tesla’s design chief has said the company is working on a redesign to combine electronic and manual releases into one control, as some owners buy glass breakers and teach passengers manual latches and regulators in Europe and China consider new rules.