--- title: "Tesla Seems to Have a Small Problem With People Getting Locked Inside Its Cars" description: "Tesla owners keep reporting a bit of a problem with their vehicles losing power... and locking them inside." date: "2023-08-17" modified: "2023-08-17" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/trapped-inside-tesla" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Tesla" tags: - "model s" - "model y" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Tesla Seems to Have a Small Problem With People Getting Locked Inside Its Cars ![Tesla owners keep reporting a bit of a problem with their vehicles losing power... and locking them inside.]() *\Image: Eyosias G / Futurism\* ## Door Performance Tesla owners keep reporting a slight problem with their cars losing power and locking them in in the process. In a piece meant to instruct Tesla drivers on how to get out of their cars if they find themselves trapped — talk about SEO — [*Insider* reports]() that this growing issue often presents somewhat differently for each driver, though some consistencies remain. Some peoples' [batteries die]() normally, the report notes, while others' cars [just shut off for no reason](). But in all cases, the manual door unlock is difficult to find, and in at least a few reported cases, the cars' windows [inexplicably break]() in the process of escape. The manual release is "not labeled," one driver, Arizonan Rick Meggison, [told Phoenix's *ABC15*](). "You don't know it's there unless you know it's there." The 73-year-old man was, to make matters worse, trapped inside his Model Y during 100-degree heat in June. It was only when his sister arrived and opened the car with a Tesla app, which cracked the vehicle's window in the process, that he was able to get out. ## Explainers According to Tesla [owner's]() [manuals](), the manual door release switch is located in front of the window switch panels, and requires one to pull it up and back to release the front doors. While some models, including the Model S, do have complicated rear-door manual release mechanisms — "fold back the edge of the carpet below the rear seats to expose the mechanical release cable \[and\] pull the mechanical release cable toward the center of the vehicle," the Model S manual reads — other models simply don't have those escape hatches installed, meaning you're out of luck if you get locked in from the backseat. Getting locked inside one's Tesla when it loses power is, of course, [far from the worst]() thing that [can happen]() to [someone inside]() one of those electric vehicles. Nevertheless, it is a great example of how janky these cars can be even as they [grow in popularity](). How many people are getting trapped inside their Hondas? **More on Tesla jankiness:** *[Cybertruck Already Found Broken Down and Abandoned on Side of Road]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()