Marco Chown Oved installed a manual emergency door-release cable in a Tesla Model 3 [1] to prevent passengers from becoming trapped.
The modification addresses a specific safety concern regarding the vehicle's electronic door locks. If the automatic system fails, passengers, particularly children, may be unable to exit the car from the inside without a manual override.
Oved, a climate change reporter for the Toronto Star, performed the installation in Toronto on a vehicle owned by his partner [1]. The process involved fitting a manual cable through the rear door panel, a modification he documented in a video posted in 2023 [2].
"I couldn't live with the idea of my kids being trapped in a Tesla with no way to get out," Oved said [1].
The reporter described the modification as a straightforward hardware addition. He said the emergency release cable is a simple piece of hardware that can be fit behind the rear door trim [2].
This DIY approach highlights a tension between the streamlined, software-driven design of electric vehicles and traditional mechanical safety redundancies. While Tesla vehicles include electronic releases, Oved sought a physical backup to ensure safety regardless of the car's power state or software functionality [1, 2].
“"I couldn't live with the idea of my kids being trapped in a Tesla with no way to get out."”
This incident underscores a growing debate over 'digital-first' automotive design. As manufacturers replace mechanical levers with touchscreens and electronic buttons, the risk of passenger entrapment during power failures or software glitches becomes a focal point for safety advocates and consumers seeking manual redundancies.
