NHTSA probes 2021 Tesla Model Y exterior door handles

U.S. safety regulators opened a preliminary investigation this week into the electronic exterior door handles on 2021 Tesla Model Y SUVs after reports that the handles became inoperative, leaving children trapped in rear seats and forcing parents to break windows to reach them. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Tuesday the probe covers roughly 174,300 vehicles and follows nine complaints in which exterior door locks stopped working, apparently when they did not receive sufficient voltage from the car's electrical system.

NHTSA said four of the nine complaints included accounts in which parents resorted to breaking a window to regain access to children inside the vehicle. The agency added that none of those owners reported receiving a low-voltage battery warning before the exterior handles failed. The preliminary evaluation will examine the scope and severity of the condition, the risks posed by the reported failures and the approach used by Tesla to supply power to the door locks, including the reliability of the relevant power supplies.

Tesla vehicles do include manual interior door releases, but regulators and owners have expressed concern that those...