Tesla model 3 does have mechanical door release mechanisms (at least for the front doors

It's in the door pocket, under the rubber liner at the bottom of the pocket

People really need to read the owners manual for their cars, but also companies that make innovative changes to basic safety systems like door handles should make some effort to inform their customers how to bypass those things

Other things tesla fails to tell their customers, aside from in the owner's manual, include that pressing and holding the park button activates emergency braking

The article was wrong that the electronic door latching prevents people outside helping those trapped in the car, the outside handle are mechanical, they will work unless the door is locked

After some googling, the "Why?!" in the image seems to be completely bullshit, though.

1. Electric cars have a way lower amount of deaths from fire than petrol cars. So why would there be outrage about Tesla fire safety?

2. The comparison in the image also completely ignores number of cars on the street, total miles driven. All car models will have fire deaths. Without scaling with number of cars, you are just always going to be outraged at the number of deaths for the most popular car model...

3. The outrage about the Ford Pinto was because it was a known specific defect which was covered up (fuel tank rupturing when rear ended), more than the number of deaths in itself. As far as I can tell, the number of fire deaths were actually not extraordinarily high for the Pinto. Hence comparing this not especially high number to Tesla for outrage purposes is meaningless.

The 1937 New London School gas explosion killed 295 students and teachers.

1. They haven't been found to be at fault for enough crashes to cost more than their profits
2. It seems to work well for most people
3. They have mechanical door releases, they are detailed in the owner's manual
4. It seems to have fewer fatal accidents than human drivers, try not to mistake highly reported collisions for high rate collisions

1. He’s disgustingly rich.
2. He’s disgustingly rich.
3. He’s disgustingly rich.
4. He’s disgustingly rich.

They have been sued, but it doesn’t matter, because that’s just the cost of doing business. (If the punishment for a crime is a fine, it’s only illegal for poor people to do it.)

Well you see, being the world's richest person enables him to do whatever he wants without repercussion. And what's a poorer person going to do, go bankrupt and homeless fighting his lawyers?

How come Elon hasn’t been sued into bankruptcy over these deaths?

Class Action Lawsuits: A major class-action lawsuit was certified in August 2025 by a California judge, representing Tesla owners who claim they were misled by marketing regarding the autonomous capabilities of FSD, with plaintiffs seeking refunds for purchased software.

Active Crash Litigation: Litigation is ongoing in at least eight cases involving the use of Tesla Autopilot/FSD during a fatal or serious crash, according to reports as of March 2024. This includes lawsuits alleging the system fails to detect objects, such as a case in Washington state involving a motorcyclist.

$243 Million Damages Verdict: In February 2026, a federal court upheld a verdict ordering Tesla to pay $243 million in damages regarding a fatal 2025 crash involving Autopilot, marking a significant legal loss for the company.

NHTSA Probes & Recalls: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating over 2.9 million Tesla vehicles regarding FSD’s ability to follow traffic laws (including running red lights). In early 2026, this shifted to a "recall query" to verify the effectiveness of a previous software update aimed at fixing the issues.

Criminal Investigation: Reports in 2024 indicated that Tesla is under federal criminal investigation over claims that the company misled consumers and investors about its autonomous driving features.

Tesla would have been shut down if idiots didn't elect a corrupt President literally selling Teslas on the White House Lawn.

Also:

5. How is it that the company that makes this shit has a price-to-earnings ratio of 326 and a market cap of $1.3 trillion. Meanwhile Toyota makes good dependable cars and has a P/E ratio of 11.41 and a market cap of $266 billion, even though Toyota sells 10x as many cars.

Tesla has been sued. But their brilliant legal defense is that full self driving needs the driver's full attention to take over. These accidents are human error Not Tesla

You seem to get the point of laws backwards.

Yes I hate tesla like everyone else but the driver is the driver. The car is not the driver.

The car has mechanical door handles in the front that at are so obvious people try to use them instead of the electrical ones.

The getting out isn't the problem. If they were conscious after the crash, at least in the front, it would have been easy to get out unless the door was jammed which can happen after the crash.

The problem is people on the outside that cant potentially open it when its not jammed and the occupant is unconscious, or the backseat where its not obvious how to use the mechanical latch.

Edit: so in this crash it sounds like the driver was probably unconscious, or the door was jammed, both of which cause a deadly situation like this as outside rescues are much harder due to electronic locks.

Edit: and EVs catch on fire less than gas cars, this isnt an EV fire problem.

Doors often jam when deformed from a serious crash in any car. Often emergency workers have to cut the car to get to people. Any EV has a battery fire issue. But it's not like gasoline fires are so great either tho.

But those flush handles are so pretty....

From the user manual: it is so easy, in case of a fire, just calmly remove all your stuff from the door pocket, then use nails to remove the rubbery mat on the bottom of that, then take out a plastic cover, there's a cable, pull that cable. So easy and totally intuitive when someone is panicking after an accident! /s

Ps: I wonder what the user manual means with that "if equipped" part. Some models don't actually have the emergency unlock under the mat?

Username checks out.

With names like autopilot and full self driving, there's a reason people are overconfident in the cars abilities.

Any complication in emergency door releases is a critical failure and tremendous design flaw. Emergency features should be incredibly obvious and easy to use, because when you go to use it there's a huge chance you're disoriented or hurt. A system you need to look for as you burn may as well not exist.

The exterior handle design is just awful. There's a reason other countries are making them illegal and it's not because they're a safe choice.

There's a reason Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate in the US despite having some of the best crash test results. You survive the impact to die a slower more painful death.