NHTSA denies Tesla door-release defect petition, opens new door rules

This one is about car safety rules, not home energy upgrades, but it touches Tesla owners directly. Federal regulators (NHTSA) rejected a petition asking them to investigate a defect in the hidden manual door releases on 2022 Tesla Model 3 cars, covering about 179,000 vehicles. The petition, filed by a Tesla owner after a crash where his car lost power and the electric door release stopped working, argued the manual backup release was hard to find. NHTSA said current safety standards don't actually require labeling or a specific location for manual releases, and it found only one matching complaint on record, from that same owner.

At the same time, NHTSA agreed to a separate request and will start writing a brand-new federal rule requiring a clear, easy-to-use emergency door release in all vehicles, not just Teslas. That process, called rulemaking, typically takes years and would only apply to future cars, not the ones already on the road.

So for now, nothing changes for people currently driving a Model 3 or other Tesla with this door design. Tesla has already redesigned door handles on some models and rolled out a fix in China, and separate federal investigations into Model 3 and Model Y door releases are still open. If you own one of these vehicles, this news doesn't come with a recall or fix, just a longer-term promise of new industry-wide rules down the road.