The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Tuesday it has opened an investigation into about 174,000 Tesla Model Y vehicles from the 2021 model year after reports that their electronic door handles can fail, leaving occupants trapped inside.
The automotive regulator said it has received nine reports of parents being locked out of their vehicles when attempting to place or retrieve children from the back seat. “The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received nine Vehicle Owners Questionnaires (VOQs) reporting an inability to open doors on Model Year (MY) 2021 Tesla Model Y vehicles,” NHTSA said. “The most commonly reported scenarios involved parents exiting the vehicle after a drive cycle in order to remove a child from the back seat or placing a child in the back seat before starting a drive cycle. In those events, the parents were unable to reopen a door to regain access to the vehicle. Four of these VOQs reported resorting to breaking a window to regain entry into the vehicle.”
NHTSA noted that while Tesla vehicles have manual door releases inside the cabin, children may not be able to access or operate them. “As a result, in these instances, an occupant who remains inside a vehicle in this condition may be unable to be rapidly retrieved by persons outside of the vehicle. Entrapment in a vehicle is particularly concerning in emergency situations, such as when children are entrapped in a hot vehicle,” the agency added, referencing its Child Heatstroke Campaign.
The regulator said Tesla reportedly replaced 12-volt batteries in vehicles linked to the complaints but expressed concern that drivers did not receive advance warnings of battery failure. NHTSA said its initial review indicates the condition may occur when the electronic door locks receive insufficient voltage.
The agency also highlighted that Tesla’s manual workaround may be impractical in emergencies. “The Tesla Owner’s Manual ‘Jump Starting’ and ‘Opening the Hood with No Power’ sections describe a multi-step process for restoring power to the electronic door locks in order to enable their operation from outside of the vehicle. This process requires applying 12 volts DC from a separate power source to two different points accessible from the vehicle’s exterior. The subject incidents suggest that this process may not be readily available to owners or well known,” NHTSA said.
