- Tesla offers two different manual rear door release designs in the Model Y.
- Apparently, some of these vehicles lack a manual rear door release entirely.
- Owners are adding ropes to the rear door cables for quick emergency use.
Concerns over Tesla’s electronic door handles have intensified after several recent fatalities were linked to situations where occupants couldn’t escape following a crash or fire. The incidents have not only landed Tesla in hot water with safety authorities, but have also sparked broader conversations within the auto industry about safety design and emergency accessibility.
Many owners are now asking themselves what they can do to ensure their vehicles are ready should the unthinkable happen.
Read: Crash Victim Trapped In Burning Tesla Sues Over Door Handles
Late last week, a Reddit user sparked discussion by asking how to rescue children from the rear of a Model Y in the event of a collision and fire.
“Me and my wife have a Juniper and with a baby on the way it got me thinking,” wrote a user on Reddit.
“You get into a crash. High voltage battery catches fire, inside is filling up with smoke, 12v battery dies. You use the manual release on the driver’s door to open the door and now you can get out. But how do you get your child/baby out of the backseat/childseat on the passenger side? 3 other doors are locked. No chance you’re reaching the manual release on that door from the driver’s seat,” they added.
To Tesla’s credit, the Model Y includes an easily accessible manual release for the front doors, located just ahead of the window controls. This means front-seat occupants can exit quickly, even if the electronic system fails. The same can’t be said for those in the back seats.
Hidden Escape Points
For whatever reason, the manual release at the rear of the 2020-2024 Model Y is much more difficult to access. To pull it, occupants need to remove the rubber mat at the bottom of the door pocket, press on a red tab to remove a plastic access door, and then pull the mechanical release cable forward. For a child, particularly in a panicked situation, access will be challenging.
Tesla redesigned the rear door’s manual release for the Model Y Juniper, although a plastic release cover still needs to be removed before accessing the release cable.
DIY Safety Mods
Some Model Y owners, inspired by the Reddit thread, have taken matters into their own hands. A few have attached small straps to the rear release cable so it’s easy to spot and pull, while others suggest connecting a rope that extends toward the front of the cabin, giving the driver a way to open the rear doors quickly in an emergency.
That said, these homemade solutions don’t help everyone. Tesla’s owner’s manual for the 2020-2024 Model Y reveals that “not all Model Y vehicles are equipped with a manual release for the rear doors.”
So, if the rear doors can’t be opened from the inside, nor from the outside after a crash and/or fire, that means the only way to free passengers in the rear will be to drag them out from the front seats, or to bust out the rear windows.
