The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched a preliminary investigation into 174,000 Tesla Model Y vehicles from the 2021 model year over alleged problems with their electronic door handles. The investigation comes after multiple reports that the handles may stop working, leaving occupants unable to open the doors. In several cases, parents said they could not reopen the doors after stepping out to check on children in the back seat, and some were forced to break windows to regain access. Therefore, now NHTSA is reviewing whether this issue poses a significant safety risk and if a recall of the affected vehicles may be needed.
The potential problem appears to be linked to the low-voltage batteries that power the electronic door locks. According to investigators, the handles may fail when the battery does not supply enough voltage, although no warning lights or alerts were reported before the failures occurred. Notably, Tesla vehicles include manual door release mechanisms as a backup, but these may not be easily accessible or operable by children, which raises additional safety concerns.
“The Tesla Owner’s Manual ‘Jump Starting’ and ‘Opening the Hood with No Power’ sections describe a multi-step process for restoring power to the electronic door locks in order to enable their operation from outside of the vehicle. This process requires applying 12 volts DC from a separate power source to two different points accessible from the vehicle’s exterior. The subject incidents suggest that this process may not be readily available to owners or well-known. For instances where an occupant is able to access and operate interior door handles, the Tesla Owner’s Manual ‘Opening Doors with No Power’ section identifies the manual door releases inside of the vehicle’s cabin,” the agency noted.
Meanwhile, Tesla has not yet publicly commented on the investigation. But the NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) is actively reviewing the issue, and depending on the findings, a recall of the affected vehicles could be initiated.
This latest investigation adds to a growing list of regulatory challenges faced by Elon Musk-owned Tesla concerning the design and safety of its vehicles. For example, in February 2025, the EV giant recalled around 380,000 vehicles in the US due to a power steering assist failure that could increase steering effort at low speeds, following a year-long NHTSA investigation and over 3,000 warranty claims.
Similarly, in July 2024, the company announced a recall of more than 1.8 million vehicles across the United States to fix a critical software issue with the hood latch mechanism, which could prevent drivers from being alerted if the hood was not properly secured. Also in December 2023, Tesla initiated its largest-ever recall affecting over 2 million vehicles to fix deficiencies in the Autopilot system’s safeguards, following a two-year NHTSA review. The timing of the latest probe becomes even more critical as the company is already facing a challenging year, with its stock down about 25% since the start of 2025, Q1 profits falling 71%, and revenue dropping to $19.3 billion.
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