The US auto safety regulator said on Wednesday that it has started an investigation into Elon Musk‘s Tesla Model 3 cars after concerns were raised over the use of emergency door release controls. The investigation covers about 1.79 lakh Model 3 vehicles made in 2022, according to the agency’s Office of Defects Investigation, a Reuters report said.
Why is Tesla under the lens?
The probe was launched on December 23 after the agency received a complaint claiming that the car’s manual door release is hidden, has no clear label, and is hard to find in an emergency.
Reuters reported that Tesla did not respond immediately to questions about the issue.
Tesla cars mainly use electronic door systems that open with buttons instead of regular door handles. The company does provide a manual door release for emergencies or power loss, but experts have said for years that these controls are not easy to see or understand, especially for people sitting in the back seat, the report added.
Tesla faces lawsuits over door design after fatal fires
Last month, Tesla was taken to court after a deadly crash in Wisconsin in which all five people inside a Model S died. The lawsuit claims the victims could not escape because a design problem stopped the car’s doors from opening during the fire.
Tesla is also facing a lawsuit from the families of two college students who died in a Cybertruck crash last November near San Francisco. The families allege the students were trapped inside the burning vehicle due to the truck’s door handle design.
Regulators say that opening a defect petition does not automatically mean a recall will follow. However, it is the first step in a review that could lead to action if safety problems are found.
In September, the US auto safety agency NHTSA said it had begun an initial review of around 1.74 lakh Model Y vehicles after reports that their electronic door handles stopped working.