Tesla Drivers Are Buying Escape Tools and Cars to Avoid Getting Trapped Inside

Erin Geter’s toddler son became trapped inside her Tesla in May when the electric doors lost power. A few weeks later, she was at a Honda dealership buying a new family car.

“I was very traumatized,” said the 39-year-old from Huntersville, North Carolina. These days, she prefers to transport her kids in the CR-V, which has standard door handles.

Geter’s case is a particularly extreme example of the lengths Tesla owners are now going to deal with a problem most had never imagined: being unable to open malfunctioning doors. Some are buying glass breakers in case they need to escape through the windows. Rideshare drivers are proactively showing passengers where to find Tesla’s built-in manual door releases, which vary substantially by model. Sellers on Amazon and Etsy are listing emergency pull cords and other third-party accessories to make the releases easier to use, and Reddit boards and YouTube videos have cropped up to provide step-by-step installation instructions. Nearly 35,000 people have signed a Consumer Reports online petition calling on automakers to fix their electronic doors.

The matter has gained urgency after numerous incidents in which people were severely injured or died when they were unable to escape vehicles. A Bloomberg News investigation found more than 140 consumer complaints to US auto safety regulators related to door handles on various Tesla models getting stuck, not opening or otherwise malfunctioning, particularly after crashes, since 2018. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a safety probe into whether the doors on certain Model Ys are defective, and Tesla’s chief designer said the company is working on a redesign of the mechanism behind the hallmark flush handles.

Tesla was a pioneer of electrically controlled doors and flush handles, which have proliferated in the auto industry in recent years and have become a symbol of cool, futuristic car design. But when power is lost, Tesla’s doors lose function. Manual releases inside the company’s vehicles can be unmarked, hidden under mats or in door pockets, or available in only one row.

As owners learn of the potential hazards, many say they want better guidance.

“Tesla does not educate its consumers about how to fully operate the car,” said David Ward, a San Diego-area resident who bought his Model 3 in 2021, adding that he’s otherwise happy with the car. “I had to learn how to operate everything on YouTube.”

Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment for this article, but board Chair Robyn Denholm said in a recent interview that the company takes any questions about safety seriously. Many people know where the manual release is, she said, but Tesla is working to raise awareness about where they’re located and examining the design of the backup mechanism.

“We are continuing to look at, is there a better way?” Denholm said during the October interview with Bloomberg.

It’s not just owners who are worried. Because Teslas make up a notable portion of rideshare and rental car fleets, the doors have become a concern among passengers, too.

Chad Lincoln, a Tennessee-based Uber driver, recently rented a 2022 Model 3 from Hertz after his car was involved in an accident. During the two weeks that he drove the Tesla, he said riders asked him on three occasions how to escape if needed.

“We went over my flight attendant’s pitch on how to get out, and the strap to pull,” he said.

Although Lincoln, 47, likes the sophisticated technology in the Model 3, he said he is not considering a Tesla as he looks for a replacement for his totaled car.

“The safety concerns around the manual release is really big for me,” he said. “I really take the responsibility of my passengers’ safety seriously.”

Michael Brooks, executive director at the Center for Auto Safety, said he’d like to see NHTSA set new standards for doors, including making it clear where releases are located. Consumers are unlikely to know or consider door design when they’re car shopping, he said.

“They’re not thinking, ‘How am I going to escape this vehicle on the off-chance that I’m in a crash or have a battery fire?'” Brooks said. “The way the doors operate and the potential emergency consequences of that is very, very far down the list for most car buyers.”

Teslas have two batteries: a high-voltage pack that propels the car and a low-voltage pack that operates the windows and doors. If the low-voltage battery dies or is disabled, the doors may not unlock.

US auto safety rules do have requirements for doors to prevent passengers from being ejected in a crash. But they don’t require vehicles to have a manual backup should battery-operated handles lose power.

NHTSA said failing to provide drivers and passengers with an adequate ability to get in and out of their cars could constitute a safety defect requiring a recall. The agency also said it has investigated electronic or battery issues involving door handles, and influenced recalls by Ford Motor Co. and Fisker Inc. over defective electronic door handles.

Some owners are taking it upon themselves to spread the word as a public service. After reading about college students who were unable to escape a Tesla after a crash, Bri Policarpio realized she wasn’t sure how to exit her 2023 Model Y in the event of an emergency. So she made an informational TikTok video.

“I looked up what you’re supposed to do and I saw that every model has different manual releases,” said Policarpio, 27, a start-up marketing manager from Los Angeles. “That’s one thing you would assume is very intuitive.”

In the video, which she captioned “mandatory safety briefing,” Policarpio demonstrates how to use the front manual release. The clip has racked up 1.4 million views.

Owners are also bolstering their releases with straps, cords and brightly colored handle attachments to make them more accessible.

“I wish Tesla would have provided something like this,” reads a November review from a verified purchaser who bought a pair of nylon pull cords on Amazon. “How is anyone supposed to find this release in an emergency?”

Product images for another item, a Model Y-compatible manual door release kit, show a Tesla with smoke billowing out of the car and another partially submerged in water. “Don’t get trapped!” the listing says.

Geter, the Tesla owner from North Carolina, had already bought a glass breaker for her 2021 Model Y before her son became stuck in the car this spring. But the tool was locked inside, too.

Over the next several minutes, she made a series of phone calls: First to her husband and then to her dad, who can normally unlock the car on their phones using the Tesla app. That feature doesn’t work when the low-voltage battery dies, so Geter tried the automaker, which she said was also unable to immediately help, followed by 911.

Geter was able to reach her son after first responders arrived and attempted to break the windows — one of the doors suddenly opened on its own, she said.

“I don’t know what we were going to do if that door didn’t pop open,” she said. “I just felt so helpless at that moment.”

Top photo: Tesla was a pioneer of electrically controlled doors and flush handles. Photographer: Travis Dove/Bloomberg.