Every Tesla on the road today has two batteries. The big one moves the car. The small one opens the doors. When that small battery dies in a crash, you’re locked inside. Samuel Tremblett found that out at 1:04 a.m. on October 29, on a dark stretch of Route 138 in Easton, Massachusetts.

The 20-year-old’s Modelo Y left the southbound lane and came to rest in the woods about 20 feet off the road. He survived the impact. Then the car caught fire. Tremblett called 911.

“I can’t get out, please help me,” he told the operator, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Massachusetts federal court. “It’s on fire. Help please. I am going to die.”

His remains were found in the back seat.

The Fact: A new wrongful death lawsuit, Tremblett v. Tesla (1:26-cv-10567), alleges Tesla’s electrically powered doors trapped the driver inside his burning Model Y after a single-vehicle crash near the Raynham-Easton town line.
The Delta: Tremblett survived the crash itself and was conscious enough to call 911 and describe his situation in detail. He died from thermal injuries and smoke inhalation, not from the collision.
The Buyer Impact: If you own a Tesla, find your model’s manual door release right now. In many Model Y vehicles, the rear releases are buried under carpet or trim panels. Some Model 3 and Model Y versions have no rear manual releases at all.

Bloomberg’s Investigation Counts At Least 15 Dead From Tesla’s Door Design

The Tremblett case is the latest in a series of lawsuits that all tell the same story: a survivable crash turns fatal because Tesla’s electronic door systems fail when power is lost. Bloomberg News has documented at least 15 deaths in roughly a dozen incidents over the past decade where occupants or rescuers could not open Tesla doors after a crash and fire.

More than half of those deaths occurred since November 2024. The list is grim. In Wisconsin, five people died in a Modelo S crash. A nearby homeowner reported hearing screaming from inside the vehicle for up to five minutes during her 911 call. In Piedmont, California, three college students died in a Cibercamión fire. Autopsies showed they died from asphyxiation after surviving the initial impact. In Washington state, bystanders tried to break a Model 3’s windows with a baseball bat as flames spread and a woman died inside.

The pattern is identical every time. Crash. Fire. Battery failure. Locked doors. Death.

Tesla’s Fix Came Two Months Too Late for Tremblett

In December 2025, Tesla updated its website with a new “Safer Aftermath” section stating that when a serious collision is detected, hazard lights will activate and doors will automatically unlock for emergency access. The fine print says the feature “may not be available in all regions or for all vehicles, depending on build date.”

Tremblett’s crash happened in October. Tesla has not disclosed which vehicles or model years get the auto-unlock feature, or whether it can be delivered through a software update to older vehicles. The company did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment on the lawsuit.

Tesla’s design chief Franz von Holzhausen told Bloomberg back in September that the company was working on combining the electronic and manual releases into a single mechanism. “The idea of combining the electronic one and the manual one together into one button, I think, makes a lot of sense,” he said. No timeline has been provided.

Two Active NHTSA Probes and a Congressional Bill Are Now Targeting Tesla’s Doors

Federal regulators have two open investigations into Tesla door systems. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened a probe in September 2025 covering approximately 174,290 Modelo Y SUVs from the 2021 model year after receiving reports of exterior door handles becoming inoperable. Four of those incidents involved parents smashing windows to rescue their trapped children. We covered those cases in detail.

In December, NHTSA opened a second probe into 179,071 Modelo 3 sedans after a Georgia owner who had to kick his way out of his burning car filed a defect petition calling the manual releases “hidden, unlabeled, and not intuitive to locate during an emergency.”

On the legislative side, Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL) introduced the SAFE Exit Act in January 2026. The bill would require all vehicles with electric door systems to include a clearly labeled mechanical latch that is “intuitive to use and readily accessible.” It would also mandate first-responder access when power is lost. Internationally, China has issued new safety rules banning concealed exterior handles and requiring mechanical releases, while European regulators have said they plan to accelerate rulemaking.

The Core Engineering Problem Tesla Has Known About Since 2016

Tesla vehicles rely on a low-voltage 12V battery to operate interior functions like windows, doors, and the touchscreen. The high-voltage battery pack propels the car. If the 12V battery dies or gets disconnected in a crash, the electronic door buttons stop working. Occupants must find and operate manual release mechanisms that vary by model and year.

Front-door manual releases exist but aren’t always clearly marked. Rear-door releases are worse. In many Model Y vehicles, they’re located under carpet or trim, requiring panel removal to access. Certain versions of the Model 3 and Model Y have no rear manual releases at all. As we reported in September, finding these releases during a fire or high-stress crash is nearly impossible.

Bloomberg separately reported that potential safety issues with the electronic door handles were raised internally during the Model 3’s development in 2016. CEO Elon Musk reportedly insisted on the flush-handle design despite engineer concerns.

EVXL’s Take

We’ve been covering Tesla’s door safety crisis since September 2025. Five articles. Five months. The death toll keeps climbing.

Samuel Tremblett survived a single-vehicle crash. He was conscious. He was lucid enough to call 911, describe his situation, and beg for help. He died anyway, because the car he was sitting in wouldn’t let him leave. That’s not a freak accident. That’s a systemic design failure that Tesla has known about for nearly a decade.

The December website update about auto-unlocking doors is a start, but it’s buried in fine print and doesn’t cover every vehicle. Von Holzhausen’s redesign promise from September still has no timeline. And the SAFE Exit Act, while necessary, won’t require rule changes for at least two years even if it passes.

I’ll say it plainly: every Tesla owner should locate their vehicle’s manual door releases today and make sure every passenger knows where they are. Don’t wait for Tesla or Congress to fix this. The information is in your owner’s manual under emergency procedures.

My prediction: the Tremblett lawsuit, combined with the two active NHTSA probes, will force a recall by mid-2026. Tesla will be required to add visible labels to all manual release locations at minimum. Whether the company offers a physical retrofit for vehicles without rear manual releases is the bigger question, and one that will define whether Tesla treats this as a PR problem or a life-safety obligation.

The case is Tremblett v. Tesla, 1:26-cv-10567, US District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston).

Editorial Note: AI tools were used to assist with research and archive retrieval for this article. All reporting, analysis, and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo.