July 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has denied a petition seeking a defect investigation into the emergency mechanical door release on about 180,000 Tesla Model 3 vehicles.
NHTSA said the petition did not present evidence of a likely safety-related defect warranting an investigation and that the issue would be more appropriately addressed through an ongoing rulemaking process.
The petition covered 179,701 model-year 2022 Tesla Model 3 vehicles and alleged the
manual door release was difficult to locate after a crash if the vehicle lost power, increasing the risk of occupants getting trapped.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tesla's electronically operated door handles have faced scrutiny after several crashes in which occupants were reportedly unable to exit their vehicles after losing power, prompting broader calls for stricter federal safety standards governing emergency door releases.
The agency said it had identified one consumer complaint involving a 2022 Model 3 that alleged the mechanical door release was concealed and unlabeled after the vehicle lost electrical power in a front-impact crash. The petition cited the same vehicle.
NHTSA said the current federal safety rules governing vehicle door locks and latches do not address the labeling or location of emergency mechanical door releases.
The agency added that it has already begun a separate rulemaking process after granting approval to another petition that sought a new federal safety standard for more obvious emergency door-egress systems.
It said the broader rulemaking, rather than a defect investigation, was the appropriate way to address the issue.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Joyjeet Das and Shinjini Ganguli)