2021 TESLA MODEL 3 — Complaint #2149365
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:DOORS:LATCH:EMERGENCY MECHANICAL RELEASE filed November 17, 2025
NHTSA complaint #2149365 (ODI reference 11699856) concerns a 2021 TESLA MODEL 3 and was filed on November 17, 2025. The owner reports the failure occurred on November 17, 2025. The report was geocoded to California based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as latches/locks/linkages:doors:latch:emergency mechanical release, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same TESLA MODEL 3 cohort independently describe similar latches/locks/linkages:doors:latch:emergency mechanical release failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2021 TESLA MODEL 3 shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
I am the owner of a 2021 Tesla Model 3 and am filing this complaint due to a significant safety concern: my vehicle does not have manual or mechanical releases for the rear doors; only electronic mechanisms are present. In the event of a total power failure, accident, fire, or submersion, rear seat passengers would be unable to exit the vehicle through the rear doors, as there is no physical lever or alternative escape route directly available inside the rear seats. This design poses a serious risk to occupant safety in emergencies, especially for families with children or passengers unable to access the front seat manual releases or trunk escape features. The lack of a rear mechanical release is inconsistent with standard automotive safety practices and could lead to injury or loss of life if electronic door access is disabled. Itâs important to note that newer Tesla models now include manual rear door release mechanisms, demonstrating that Tesla recognizes the safety benefit and
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2149365 |
| ODI Number | 11699856 |
| Date Filed | November 17, 2025 |
| Failure Date | November 17, 2025 |
| VIN | 5YJ3E1EB5MF |
Similar LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:DOORS:LATCH:EMERGENCY MECHANICAL RELEASE Complaints for 2021 TESLA MODEL 3
While traveling over 230 miles from home on a road trip, my 2021 Tesla Model 3 suffered a complete and catastrophic failure. While in North Carolina, the vehicle became entirely unresponsiveâdoors w
The Tesla model 3 has a manual release lever for each door in the front. The passenger side lever doesn't work, creating a safety issue if the car were to lose power then that door would not be able t
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.