If you get locked on the outside of an EV with a dead low-voltage battery and door latches that need power to work, getting in is inconvenient, but follow a few steps that apply to most cars and you’ll regain access in no time. When the vehicle's 12-volt battery dies while you're inside, the situation becomes more challenging, and it could potentially leave you feeling trapped.
However, you shouldn’t panic. Manufacturers have realized this can turn into a serious safety issue and have fitted their vehicles with backup mechanical handles to allow you to open the doors from the inside with no power. It pays to not only look into this for your specific vehicle but also take the time to test it out—in some cars, it's very easy and obvious how to open the doors, while in others it's a bit tricker.
There's Always A Mechanical Door Release
There was an incident in 2021 when a Tesla Model Y lost power and caught fire while on the move, trapping its driver inside as it was going up in flames. The driver said the windows didn’t work, nor did the buttons to get the doors to pop open. He resorted to kicking out the driver’s side window so that he could climb outside, not knowing all Teslas have backup mechanical door handles for the front doors, which you can pull to open the doors even when the car has malfunctioned or has no power.
Other reports describe situations where occupants in EVs with e-latches, particularly those in Teslas, became trapped inside their vehicles after they lost power, but they weren't in immediate danger and eventually found their way out.
All Teslas have easily accessible mechanical handles that you can pull to open the front doors. They are located in front of the window switch panel, and they are easy to spot and operate.
If you’re in the back of a Tesla, the mechanical door release mechanisms are strangely tricky to locate. In the Model S, you find it by looking for cutouts in the carpeting under the seat, and moving the cutout part out of the way will reveal tabs that you can pull to open the doors.
To manually unlatch the door in the Model X, you actually have to remove the speaker grilles and find a cable to pull down and toward the front of the vehicle. You will then have to manually lift the big falcon wing doors before out of the way finally being able to get out of the car.
For the Model 3 and Model Y, the solution is similar. You will have to reach down to the bottom of the rear door pockets (remove the rubber mat that’s there in the Model Y) and open a plastic cover before gaining access to the cable release for the door.
If you don’t know where these mechanical release mechanisms are located, it can be bad news if you want to escape the vehicle quickly after an accident. You will feel like you’re trapped inside, and you may panic, but it’s worth noting that all vehicles with electric door latches have a mechanical override.
If you drive a vehicle with electric latches and you don’t know where the mechanical door release is, you should consult the manual or ask your dealer so that, in an emergency, you will be able to not only let yourself out of the vehicle but also inform passengers of how they can escape.
In a Ford Mustang Mach-E, you can find the mechanical release in the armrest part of the door panel. You pull on the handle and open the door manually, but this does not work for the rear doors. If you want to get out of a Lucid with no power, the manufacturer says you should pull on the door handle harder than normal and that this will unlatch the door mechanically.
The good thing is that you can check the manual while you’re in the vehicle to find the location of its mechanical releases. If you’re in a car with an electric latch for the glove box, you may have to pry it open if it’s an emergency, or you can simply access the manual via your vehicle’s mobile app, which should also make searching for the information easier.
Charging Your EV's 12-Volt To Regain Access
While it’s not as big a problem as getting out, gaining access to the inside of a vehicle that has powered latches and no power can still be a challenge. It can even potentially become dangerous like when firefighters were called to rescue a little girl from a Tesla Model Y whose low-voltage battery went flat. The exterior door handles were no longer working and the toddler couldn’t open any of the doors essentially trapping her inside.
Some cars don’t have a way to mechanically open the doors, like early Cadillac Lyriqs with the initial door handle design or Teslas.
In some newer BMWs with flush exterior door handles, you reach under the handle to hit a button to open the door, but you can also pull the handle out to open the door manually. This is the same for the front doors on Volkswagen’s ID electric vehicles. Other BMWs, like the iX, have a different style of flush door handle, and you will need to remove the flap that hides the keyhole on the driver’s door and then pull on that flap until you hear a click.
In a Tesla, though, there is no way to do that and you will have to first charge the 12-volt battery, which powers most of the car’s auxiliary systems, including the door latches. Accessing a Tesla’s 12-volt battery in newer Teslas is easier than in old models.
In a 2012 to 2016 Model S, for instance, you will have to pop off the gloss black nose cone to gain access to the battery terminals. You don’t have to get to the actual battery, which is located behind one of the frunk panels, and charging via the remote terminals saves time.
In some early Model S sedans, Tesla installed a mechanical release lever underneath the glovebox. Pulling this will partly release the hood, which will allow you to stick your hand underneath the leading edge of the hood to find the secondary release, which will allow you to fully open it and reach the battery.
If you have a post-2016 Model S, you will need to pry away the wheel fairings in front of the two front wheels to gain access to the pull tabs that open the two hood latches. Once you’ve popped it open, you can charge the low-voltage battery by removing the plastic maintenance panel located between the frunk and the windscreen and hooking up a charger to its terminals.
Charging the 12-volt battery in the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y is easier. You can pop the round cover off the towing ring in the front bumper. This will reveal two wires and terminals, one black and one red, which are the negative and positive terminals. This allows you to quickly juice up the 12-volt battery and gain access to your car. The Ford Mustang Mach-E has this same solution.
The process of locating the terminals for the low-voltage battery and hooking them up to a charger will be very similar in all other EVs. If they are made by a legacy OEM like Hyundai-Kia, General Motors or the Volkswagen group, you should also have a physical key that you will be able to open at least the driver’s door with to gain access to the vehicle, which would then allow you to open the hood and start charging the dead 12-volt battery.
