In case you thought cars would become safer as technology developed… rest assured, Tesla is finding newer and ever-dumber ways to make their cars dangerous to occupants (and others).
TL;DR: If you’re in a Tesla and it loses power (like in a fire), the only way to open the doors is often an unlabeled wire behind either two panels or a speaker grill. Tesla owners are DIYing janky rip cords to make that wire easier to pull to escape.
This article might be misleading. Every Tesla I’ve ever been in has a purely mechanical door handle/latch to open each of the 4 doors. It’s legitimately hidden in plain sight, so if nobody tells you that it’s there you might not find it but it’s very easy to access if you know it’s there. They absolutely should make it more obvious that it’s there. Maybe there are some models that don’t have it? Not sure. I’ve been in the S, 3, and Y.
Edit: not misleading, see following replies.
My 3 from 2017 had easy to access releases on all four doors, but I believe recent models aren’t the same. That car got sold to CarBuyerUSA for $5k net, woo.
My Plaid (before I ditched it because fuck Elon) had easy to access emergency releases on the front doors, so easy passengers pulled them accidentally when getting out. But the back didn’t have the same, you had to access it through some bit under the seat or some crap, to be honest I don’t recall finding it.