Tesla faces widening federal probe into door handle safety issues

Tesla’s The company was ordered to provide records to U.S. federal auto safety regulators to comply with an extensive investigation into possible safety flaws with flush-mounted, retractable door handles that could have trapped people.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The agency continues to receive complaints from Tesla owners after regulators launched an investigation in September, Elon Musk said in a letter to the automaker.

Owners said they were unable to get in and out of their cars due to loss of battery power and other conditions that prevented normal use of door handles.

In some cases, owners’ children were trapped inside hot vehicles, requiring first aid or breaking windows to open doors.

NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation said that as of October 27, 2025, they had “received 16 reports of exterior door handles becoming inoperable due to low 12VDC battery voltage on some 2021 Tesla Model Y vehicles.”

Following an investigation, the agency began investigating Tesla’s electronic door handles. Bloomberg report brings events to light. The news agency reported that people trapped in Tesla vehicles were injured or killed after crashes or loss of battery power that prevented the doors from opening normally.

Tesla design leader Franz Von Holzhausen said in later press interviews that the company would change the design of the door handles.

Including Tesla rivals rivyaIt is also re-evaluating flush-mount or retractable door handle designs.

volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer It was said recently His company’s customers don’t even want flush-mount electronic door handles, and VW has no plans to adopt them.

Meanwhile, China is expected to implement new vehicle safety standards around door handles, including a requirement to have emergency interior door opening mechanisms that are more clearly marked, accessible and easier to use.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced draft standards and comments are open until November 22.

The NHTSA Tesla investigation is seeking records related to all model years, “2021 Tesla Model Y vehicles manufactured for sale or lease in the United States,” as well as “equivalent vehicles,” including Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles from model years 2017 through 2022, and “systems related to opening doors, including door handles, door latches, 12VDC batteries, software, and other components.”

Tesla has until December 10 to provide the records.

The letter stated that Tesla could request NHTSA to extend the deadline, but could face fines of “$27,874 per day per violation, with a maximum of $139,356,994” if the company “failures or does not fully, accurately, or timely respond” to NHTSA’s requests for information.