PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A Valley woman has a warning for her fellow Tesla drivers after getting trapped in her car.
When its power went out, she had no idea how to get out of her car, and she was far from alone.
Diane has owned her Model Y for about three years without serious complaints.
“Pretty happy,” she said. “It’s a fun car to drive.”
But that changed last month when she tried to go for a drive.
“It was fully charged,” she said. “I unplugged the car, went to get in my car, shut the door, and everything just shut down. I couldn’t open the windows. I couldn’t unlock the doors. I was trapped.”
Diane was stuck inside her car. She wanted to check the owner’s manual to try to figure out what was going on, but that was impossible: the glove box wouldn’t open either.
“I called a friend of mine in the neighborhood and said, you know, can you please come over right away. I’m trapped in the car. He came over he couldn’t figure it out. He says there’s no way to open the car from the outside.”
Diane got on the Tesla app and requested Emergency Roadside Assistance. Eventually they let her know through a text that there’s a secret latch to open the door.
Once she located it, Diane was finally able to get out. “It’s scary,” she said. “It’s very unnerving to say the least.”
Diane’s not alone.
Numerous reports have been made of Tesla drivers being trapped in their cars when the battery dies and all the electronics shut down.
Here’s the problem: like most electric vehicles, Tesla vehicles have a main battery that powers the car and a smaller battery that powers the onboard electronics. That includes the door release and the power windows.
When that battery dies, the doors and windows won’t work.
“There is no warning when it’s low or about to go out,” she said. “So it just shuts down.”
So, where’s that secret latch? You’ll find it on the armrest but on the underside, and it’s completely unmarked.
Diane had no idea it was there. She says she’s talked with several Tesla owners over the past few weeks and they didn’t know about it either.
She’d like to see Tesla do more to educate drivers about this important safety feature and believes the company should make a change.
“But to me, it seems that the default for when you lose power should be windows and doors open. Not lock. It should be the reverse logic. That I don’t understand.”
On Your Side reached out to Tesla, but did not receive a response.
If you own a Tesla, make sure you know where the manual door release is in your car. You’ll find it in your owner’s manual.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2024 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.