NHTSA Investigates Tesla Door Handle Failures
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Auto safety regulators opened an investigation into Tesla Inc. doors, citing incidents in which exterior door handles stopped working and trapped children inside.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Sept. 16 it’s opening a preliminary evaluation of Tesla’s electrically powered door handles becoming inoperative due to issues with certain Model Y vehicles’ low-voltage batteries.
Although the probe specifically focuses on an estimated 174,290 SUVs, the regulator said the investigation could widen.
“NHTSA’s investigation is focused on the operability of the electronic door locks from outside of the vehicle as that circumstance is the only one in which there is no manual way to open the door,” the agency said in documents posted on its website. “The agency will continue to monitor any reports of entrapment involving opening doors from inside of the vehicle,” and will “take further action as needed.”
The move comes days after a Bloomberg News investigation uncovered a series of incidents in which people were injured or died after being unable to open doors when the power is lost, particularly after crashes. NHTSA has received more than 140 consumer complaints related to doors on various Tesla models getting stuck, not opening or otherwise malfunctioning since 2018, Bloomberg found.
In an interview with Bloomberg last week, Tesla chair Robyn Denholm declined to comment on Bloomberg’s investigation into the door handles, beyond saying that the board “takes seriously” any safety incidents. Tesla didn’t immediately respond Sept. 16 to a request for comment on the new probe.
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NHTSA said its defect investigation was prompted by nine vehicle owners reporting an inability to open doors on 2021 Model Y sport utility vehicles. In the most common scenarios reported, parents were unable to reopen the doors of their Tesla to retrieve a child from the back seat or to place them in the back seat.
The agency noted that while Tesla’s vehicles have manual releases inside, “a child may not be able to access or operate the releases even if the vehicle’s driver is aware of them.”
