Tesla is under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for a potential defect affecting about 174,000 2021 model-year Model Y vehicles.
The issue involves the electronic door handles, which may stop working, preventing entry or exit from the vehicle. The investigation is preliminary but could lead to a recall if the agency determines there is a significant safety risk.
According to NHTSA, there are reports of parents being unable to open the exterior doors to place or remove children from the vehicle, and in four cases, glass had to be broken to regain access. Although the cars have internal manual mechanisms to open the doors, children may not be able to use them even with the driver aware of the function.
The agency notes that the defect appears to occur when the electronic locks receive insufficient voltage. Repair notes indicate that the low-voltage battery was replaced in some cases, but there are no records of prior low-battery alerts before the door handle failures. Tesla has not yet commented on the matter.
Source: New York Post | Photo: X @Tesla | This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team
