Lawsuit claims two are dead due to flawed electronic door designs

Flawed electronic door

The electronic lock and latch beat goes on. The parents of Krysta Tsukahara and Jack Nelson have filed lawsuits against Tesla claiming that flawed electronic door designs are responsible for the deaths of the two college students in a burning Cybertruck.

The suits, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, Alameda, CA, are on the heels of federal regulators opening an investigation into complaints of problems with stuck doors in Tesla models.

Tesla doors locks and latches have been at the center of several crash cases because the 12-volt battery powering the unlocking mechanism can be destroyed in a fire and that manual releases are difficult to find.

Tesla is hardly alone with this problem, but as the company and its principals tend to thumb their noses at authority, they get the most attention.

Let me say this again:  a singular focus on Tesla with these issues is massively short sighted.

In the case of the Cybertruck, the pair were sitting in the back, and it is completely understandable why they could not find the mechanical release.

The release is hidden under the rubber mat on the bottom of the rear door’s map pocket. The mat must be removed, which reveals a cable loop (red) which, when pulled, releases the rear door.

The front door release is more readily available, directly in front of the window  switches, as seen in the opening image.

The vehicle had crashed into a tree, resulting in severe front end damage and the fire. It is quite likely that the rear doors would have been operable, had the pair received instructions in advance.

It is instances such as these that have caused deaths for at least a decade, and in vehicles other than those built by Tesla, that we continue to implore the National Highway Traffic Safety Association to force manufacturers to return to mechanical locks and latches, period.

They are completely, utterly unnecessary.

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