US Auto Safety Agency Probes Tesla Model 3 Emergency Door Release
The Office of Defects Investigation said the probe covers an estimated 179,071 model year 2022 vehicles.
The investigation was opened on December 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.
Related: Tesla Drivers Are Buying Escape Tools and Cars to Avoid Getting Trapped Inside
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)