Ontario mother, daughter briefly locked in Tesla when battery fails

An Ontario mother said she and her nine-year-old daughter got locked into their Tesla when the battery failed earlier this month.

“My husband wasn’t able to open the door from the outside, the screen completely shut down and I wasn't able to open the door from the inside, the windows or anything," Raeshu Singh of Burlington, Ont. said.

On Canada Day, Singh and her daughter Jesslene got into her 2018 Tesla Model 3 and shut their doors when the car lost all power.

It was 35 degrees Celsius outside, the car was heating up and her daughter started to panic.

"Her thought was, the doors aren't opening, the windows aren't opening, how are we going to get out of this car?" said Singh.

Singh said she eventually remembered the way to manually unlatch the doors if the battery dies, which is by pulling up on a manual emergency latch that is located beneath the window controls.

“It took me a few minutes to even remember about the emergency release because my daughter was panicking,” said Singh.

The battery of an Ontario driver's Tesla died, locking the occupants in the car earlier in July (Supplied). More Canadians are considering electric cars for their next vehicle purchase, but as electric cars get older, their battery must be replaced. If it's not, you could get locked inside.

Most electric vehicles come with two batteries, a large one to get you down the road and a smaller 12 volt battery similar to what is under the hood of a gas powered vehicle which operates the radio, power windows and door locks.

In May of 2022 Jamil Jutha was driving his Tesla 2021 Model Y in Vancouver when it suddenly shut down and lost all power. When smoke started filling the car he didn’t know about the emergency latch and had to kick out a window to escape before the car eventually burst into flames.

Normally to open the door of a Tesla you push a button, but when there is no power the emergency mechanical release is under the window controls. Following the Vancouver Tesla fire, Consumer Reports released a warning that said there is a manual door release.

The Chevrolet Corvette has one, the Ford Mustang Mach-e and the Lexus NX has one and your car might have one too according to Consumer Reports.

CTV News Toronto reached out to Tesla but did not get a response.

Raeshu Singh stands with her family in an undated photo. Tim Burrows with The Electric Vehicle Society, which advocates for EV use, said anyone with an electric car needs to check their owner's manual.

"They all have a mechanical means of unlatching latches that are otherwise operated by electricity. They are not always in plain sight, they are usually just tucked in behind something easy to reach, but you have got to know where they are," said Burrows.

Singh said after what happened to her family she wanted to warn others to change the 12 volt battery before it fails and to educate all family members where the emergency latch is.

"The situation could have been much worse had an infant or toddler been alone in the car," said Singh.

If you have a vehicle with electric door latches it may be a good time to check how to open the doors in case your car loses power.