The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched an investigation into claims that Tesla’s door handles become inoperable under certain circumstances in a Model Y SUV.
The Safety Bureau’s Defect Investigation Office (ODI) revealed the investigation Tuesday after receiving nine reports from owners who were unable to get into the car. ODI writes that the most common scenario involves parents who can’t leave the car and open the rear door to remove the child.
According to ODI reports, in these four cases, the owner had to break the window “to get back entry to the vehicle.”
Probe news broke out days after Bloomberg crashed, Tesla owners (and passengers) announced an investigation into a series of incidents in which they were stuck inside the vehicle.
According to a preliminary review by ODI, if the electronic door lock does not provide sufficient voltage from the vehicle’s battery system, the Tesla handle can become inoperable. However, ODI points out in a preliminary report that no owner associated the issue with the agency mentioned that they are seeing low-voltage battery warnings.
Tesla vehicles have manual door releases, but only inside the car. According to ODI, door releases can be difficult for children, and some owners don’t even realize there is.
According to the Tesla owner’s manual, it is possible to restore power to an electronic door lock, but it is a multi-step process that requires an external power source.
Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.
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