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If you are caught inside a car with electronic locks and latches and no power, an emergency escape plan exists and we have it here. Any power issue in a vehicle equipped in this way will have mechanical back-up latch releases.
These are also known as a manual door release or a manual override.
The growing use of this technology has caused difficulties for drivers everywhere. Two previous posts on the topic, including one that sadly involved a death, has led to the need for this page.
So, as we run across unusual and non-intuitive lock releases or incidents that point to these or similar difficulties, we will add them here. Continue on down…
— Related: Tragic Incident Points to a Need to Build to Intuition
Please know this: there is always a way out, at least on the front doors. Only the first gen Tesla Model 3 and Model Y do not have a rear door escape option. If the key fob or remote is outside the car, or if there is an electrical problem, the vehicle’s doors can always be opened. If your vehicle isn’t shown here, find the lock release in the your owner’s manual!
This is in alphabetical order, so we are stuck discussing a manufacturer who got it right, plus now three others who appear to have followed suit!
This is a very, very smart move which every other manufacturer using electronic locks and latches should emulate. The perfect emergency escape option.
And we can now add the electronic latches in all Lucid models beginning in 2021, plus the Polestar 3 and 4 and in the Volvo EX90 as of 2025. We have not seen any of these to test, but Lucid states that, “in the event that the door loses power, fully pull the release handle to open.” This suggests a motion very similar to the Audi.
Polestar and Volvo describe the emergency open as to “release the door latch mechanically, pull the lever all the way up using some force.”
Again, all these should be a rather intuitive move to anyone inside, although it may need to be pulled twice when power is lost.
And it didn’t require all that much force. We expect the Volvo to behave very similarly.
*Note that this practice has been discontinued and locks are back to the doors where they belong.
Other BMW EVs like the i4, use a mechanical door handle, so there is no concern here.
Also, the door lock switches are on the doors with newer models, where they belong in newer models.
Related: BMW / Mini Dead Key Fob Help
The Fisker Ocean model uses a standard mechanical inside door handle, although it will need to pulled twice.
And a video on the topic is here.
Four of GM’s Coupe styles feature an electronic lock that allows for a flush, aerodynamic exterior door handle (image). The cars are Chevrolet Corvettes built after 2005, and the Cadillac CTS Coupe and Cadillac XLR and ELR Coupes. By extension, the interior release is also electronic, rather than mechanical.
Should you run into trouble, a mechanical door release does exist. It can be found on the floor below each of the doors in the form of a lever, much like a trunk or fuel door release (image). It is in no way obvious, easy to see or intuitive to check at your feet for a door release, a fact that has cost one man his life.
The image on the handle, expanded here, does indicate that the vehicle’s door will be released with a pull of the lever. However, seeing it and identifying it while sitting in the tight quarters of a Coupe will be difficult at best. Run your hand along the floor just beneath the door and in front of the of your seat for the lever and give it a pull.
We consider this to be the worst emergency escape option in existence, bar none.
Related: General Motors Dead Key Fob Help
The new 2017 Lincoln Continental now also features electronic latches. Ford Motor Co. has kept a key hole, but moved it to inside the chrome trim below the mirror at the front of the driver’s door. Check out the link for more.
On the inside of the car, a mechanical release emergency escape is provided and is found in the center of the door just below the armrest, as shown. The designers get credit for placing this where a driver would look first in the event of an emergency – in the door itself. Sadly – and this may come back to haunt Ford/Lincoln – there isn’t one on the passenger door…
Fiat with the new 2024 500e uses a very, very similar release in essentially the same place. In contrast to the Continental, both front doors include the mechanical release.
As of 2023, several new Maserati models use an electronic lock and latch system. The cars offer a very similar door release under the arm rest. Using the same illustration above, the release is in exactly the same place and operates the same way. Like the Fiat, both front doors have a release.
The mechanical pull handle for the front door is easily seen at the very front of the arm rest of each door (left).
Each rear door presumably has a release cord. A panel behind the pull handle must be removed which exposes a pull cord. Pull the cord to open the door.
Ironically, a means of removing the panel shown was not visible with the door already open! We recommend a passenger in the rear crawl over the console to exit through the front.
We finally got hold of one and pulled it off ourselves. See the gif above right or the full video here or here…
Note that if you have young children in the back, we still recommend they climb to the front seat area. It takes a good deal of force to remove the panel. We consider this to be nearly the worst emergency escape option.
That said, if they are not working, exiting the R2 from the front is similar to the models above. However, the handle is further forward on the armrest. Pull the handle (number 2, right) to open the door.
Unfortunately, exiting the R2 with no power again requires removing a panel. Much like when we first added the other models, we have not seen one yet, but we are hopeful that the company has made this at least a little more obvious.
Once that is done, a pull cable appears (second image). In fact, it looks like it is attached to the panel itself.
We’ll get to one and record the operations.
The exit process from the back seats for this car is truly a head scratcher. The handle pictured to the right is located beneath the rear seat leather in a carpet cutout. In fact,
Locate the cutout, likely by feel, and then feel for the handle. Pull the handle and a cable releases the rear door on whichever side of the car you are working with. The front door handles work mechanically.
The original Model X front interior door handles operate mechanically, so no back-up is needed. However, the rear doors are another matter. However, beginning in 2025, the front door features an electronic latch and can be opened exactly as the Model S shown above left if power is lost.
Once the grille is removed, a release cable is available (blue arrow). Pull it down and towards the front of the vehicle. After the latch is released, the gull wing door(s) will need to be lifted manually.
The Model 3, Model Y and Cybertruck use the same or similar mechanical handle to open the front doors located in a somewhat intuitively, at the front of the arm rest and on both sides like the Model S above.
Older Model 3 and Model Y to not have a mechanical release for the rear door, which a severe oversight in our minds. This is corrected in the 2024 Model 3 and the 2025 Model Y.
On these newer models, you will find a slot in front of what is a release cover at the bottom of each rear door pocket (right). Slide a finger into the slot and lift the cover away. A mechanical release cable is then seen which must be pulled forward.
There will be no mistaking this emergency escape plan and it will be see-able in pretty much any conditions.
Its a brilliant move and one that we recommend. We also sent it off to NHTSA!
Now, to open either of the rear doors in a Cybertruck, a release is hidden under the rubber mat on the bottom of the door’s map pocket (right).
The mat must be removed, which then reveals a cable loop (red arrow) which, when pulled, releases the rear door.
A bright yellow Eject pull could be added to the Cybertruck as well as the Model S!
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The material on these pages is provided for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
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