The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Tuesday it had opened an investigation into about 174,000 Tesla Model Y cars from the 2021 model year over reports that electronic door handles can become inoperative.
NHTSA said it had received reports citing an inability to open exterior doors, including after parents exited the vehicle to remove a child or to place a child in the rear seat before starting a trip.
Elon Musk’s Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
NHTSA’s preliminary evaluation is the first step before the agency could seek a recall of the vehicles if it believes they pose an unreasonable risk to safety.
NHTSA said it has nine reports of parents being unable to open doors on 2021 Tesla Model Y vehicles. In those reports, parents were unable to reopen a door to regain access to the vehicle and in four instances parents resorted to breaking a window to regain entry into the vehicle.
The agency noted that Tesla vehicles have manual door releases inside, but children may not be able to access or operate the releases even if the vehicle’s driver is aware of them.
NHTSA said its initial review suggests this condition appears to occur when the electronic door locks receive insufficient voltage from the vehicle.
The agency said repair invoices report replacement of the vehicle’s low voltage battery after incidents, but no owners reported seeing low-voltage battery warnings prior to exterior door handles failing.
