• A new report from the Bloomberg news service shows that at least 15 people have died in Teslas when the vehicle’s doors would not open following a crash.
• According to the report, the doors of Tesla models have been known to trap occupants inside potentially burning vehicles.
• Tesla recently unveiled a new website detailing how its electrically powered doors will automatically unlock following a crash, though the feature may not work on older models.

A new chapter in an ongoing investigative report from Bloomberg starts from the news that at least 15 people have died in Teslas where the electrically powered doors would not open after a crash. Following years of complaints from owners, Bloomberg looked at crash data going back to 2012 in an attempt to quantify the number of fatalities where inoperable doors were involved.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) supplied Bloomberg with details on every fatal car crash in the United States between 2012 and 2023 that involved a fire, with Bloomberg independently working to identify crashes in 2024 and 2025. The process involved looking through thousands of pages of police, fire, and autopsy reports, the news service said. When possible, the outlet also examined photographs and audio from 911 calls and police body-camera footage.

Tesla is far from the only automaker using electric door handles—as Bloomberg points out, around 70 models on sale in the U.S. today feature them—but the EV company accounts for the largest number of consumer complaints. The Bloomberg investigation found a dozen incidents where either the occupants or the emergency responders were unable to open the doors in Tesla models that had crashed and caught fire.

A Worsening Trend

While Bloomberg reports that the 15 deaths are only a small fraction of the hundreds of fatal electric vehicle crashes that have occurred over the past decade, the list of electric-door handle-related deaths is growing. In fact, more than half of the deaths in Bloomberg’s new analysis have occurred since November 2024, indicating a worsening trend.

According to Bloomberg, there are no comprehensive, publicly available statistics from state or federal agencies tracking the number of people who have been trapped by car doors that won’t open. Part of the reason for that, the outlet reports, is that it can be difficult to know beyond a reasonable doubt what happens in the moments immediately following a crash.

The Battery That Makes the Door Handles Work

Following more than a dozen reports of exterior door handles becoming inoperable, the NHTSA opened an investigation into the Tesla Model Y’s door handles on September 15, 2025. Tesla’s electronic door handles are powered by the 12-volt battery found in every car. In crash scenarios, the 12-volt battery can die or be disabled, which renders the door handles useless.

According to a separate Bloomberg report, the front doors of Tesla models are equipped with manually operated backup door releases, though some aren’t clearly marked. Tesla’s owner’s manual for the 2020–2024 Model Y is an example of detailed instructions Tesla has published to help owners find and operate releases. The Bloomberg report notes, however, that some Model 3 and Model Y vehicles don’t come equipped with manual releases for the back seats. For those Teslas that are equipped with rear-seat manual backups, the releases can be located under rugs, behind speaker grilles, and under pieces of plastic, making them hard to find, especially in an emergency scenario.

Tesla launched a safety page on its website that addresses this concern. A section of the page labeled “Safer Aftermath: Emergency Response” says that the doors of its vehicles will automatically unlock for emergency access in crash scenarios. Unfortunately, the website doesn’t make clear exactly which models will have access to that new feature, as a footnote on the page explains that the safety feature may not be available on every model, depending on the build date.

In September, Tesla’s design chief told Bloomberg that the automaker was working on a new design that would incorporate the mechanical and electric door handles into one unit.

Jack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1.
After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf.