U.S. auto safety agency probes Tesla Model 3 emergency door release

Tesla vehicles charge at a station. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Godofredo A. Vásquez

The U.S. auto safety regulator said on Wednesday it has opened a defect investigation into Tesla Model 3 compact sedans over concerns that emergency door release controls may not be easily accessible or clearly identifiable in an emergency.

The Office of Defects Investigation said the probe covers an estimated 179,071 model year 2022 vehicles.

The investigation was opened on Dec. 23 after the agency received a defect petition alleging that the vehicles’ mechanical door release is hidden, unlabeled and not intuitive to locate during emergencies.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company’s vehicles rely primarily on electronic door latches, which open via buttons rather than traditional mechanical handles.

While Tesla includes a manual door release for use in emergencies or power failures, experts have long argued that the mechanical releases are not consistently visible, labeled or intuitive, particularly for rear-seat passengers.

Last month, Tesla was sued over a fiery Wisconsin crash that killed all five occupants of a Model S, who were allegedly trapped inside because of a design flaw that prevented them from opening the luxury sedan’s doors.

The automaker has also been sued by families of two college students killed in a Cybertruck crash November last year in a San Francisco suburb, after allegedly being locked in the burning vehicle because of its door handle design.

The opening of a defect petition does not mean a recall will be issued, but it marks the first step in a regulatory review process that could lead to further action if safety-related defects are confirmed.

The auto regulator, NHTSA, said in September it had opened a preliminary evaluation into about 174,290 Model Y cars over reports of electronic door handles becoming inoperative.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Shilpi Majumdar)