Tesla Faces NHTSA Probe Over Dangerous Door Handles Following Bloomberg Report Who says journalism is dead. A new report has triggered a federal investigation into Tesla. Less than a week after Bloomberg published a damning report on Teslas dangerous doors, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into the automakers electrically powered door handles. The core issue is that the doors can stop working entirely if the vehicles low-voltage battery fails. The NHTSA probe will initially cover the 2021 Model Y, an estimated 174,290 vehicles. However, the agency suggested in a document that it could expand its investigation. This makes sense as every Tesla ever made uses electrically powered door handles, meaning this could become a very expensive and widespread problem for the company. Tesla uses a flush door handle design, a sleek Apple-like detail that helped it become a household name. A 12-volt battery powers the doors ability to pop the handle and release the latch. But cars are not iPhones, and sleekness cannot take a backseat to safety. While Tesla vehicles do have a mechanical backup system inside the cabin to allow doors to be opened manually during a power loss, the manual release location varies by model and is often difficult to find. Furthermore, this provides little comfort if a small child or pet is trapped inside. The NHTSA noted in its public summary document that a child may not be able to access or operate the releases even if the vehicles driver is aware of them. The original Bloomberg report recounted harrowing stories from Tesla owners. One incident involved an off-duty firefighter who struggled to break into a burning Model Y in 2023. The occupant was trapped by airbags and could not reach the manual release. Losing precious seconds, she suffered third-degree facial burns and lasting lung damage from smoke inhalation. There are reportedly more tragic cases. Last November in California, three college students died trapped inside a Cybertruck after it caught fire. That same month, five people in Wisconsin died inside a Model S. The cluster of bodies in the front seat suggested to investigators they may have struggled to escape. This spring in Los Angeles, a star college basketball recruit only managed to escape by kicking out a Cybertruck window after it caught fire. He stated that he tried to open the door and it was not opening. He was later placed in a medically induced coma due to extensive smoke inhalation. Bloomberg discovered that the NHTSA has received over 140 complaints about stuck Tesla doors since 2018. The regulator cited nine specific failure reports that led to this probe. In four of those cases, people had to resort to breaking the window to get out. The NHTSA emphasized that entrapment in a vehicle is particularly concerning in emergency situations, such as when children are entrapped in a hot vehicle.
