The driver of an early Tesla Model S has died in a vehicle fire in Germany, along with two nine-year-old children who were passengers in the car.
According to local newspaper Ruhr News – as first reported by The New York Post – the large electric sedan, which is no longer available in Australia, burst into flames after crashing into a tree earlier this month, when all but one of the occupants was unable to escape the wreck.
A witness reportedly tried to free those trapped, but the car’s electric door handles hindered the rescue attempt.
“I just took the fire extinguisher and ran over. But… It didn’t help,” the man told local media.
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“I wanted to save people. I tried to open the car, but that didn’t work either. It was already so hot from the fire, but the right side of the car was still relatively undamaged.”
Images of the crash site show the vehicle to be a Tesla Model S, which features powered flush-fitting door handles designed to pop out when the airbags deploy.
“But you just couldn’t get it open. I wanted to pull the children out,” the distressed witness explained.
The third nine-year-old was able to free themself from the vehicle, and was taken to hospital via helicopter.
While Tesla models do have an emergency internal door release function for when the electric button fails, in some cases, a panel needs to be removed or carpet pulled aside for a pull-string to be accessed – requiring prior knowledge.
Owners of vehicles with non-mechanical interior door buttons are being encouraged to familiarise themselves – and their children – with emergency exit procedures.
News of the accident comes just days after Tesla design boss Franz von Holzhausen revealed the company is looking at ways to combine the electric door handles with a more intuitive mechanical release.
Chinese regulators are also considering banning flush-fitting exterior door handles from 2027 due to safety concerns.
In November 2024, four people in Canada died after being unable to escape a burning Tesla Model Y that had crashed.
Again, only one passenger was saved from the wreckage, this time after a passerby successfully smashed the rear window and dragged her from the scene.
However, the problem of electric door handles isn’t exclusive to Tesla cars, with reports of people and animals being trapped in Cadillac and Chevrolet vehicles that also featured non-mechanical interior door buttons.
MORE: Tesla redesigning interior door handles likely due to safety concerns