Being trapped in your car after a crash or electrical failure can be deadly. Here's what to do when you can't open your electronic car doors.
Here’s How to Unlock Your Electronic Car Door After a Crash—It Could Save Your Life
Published on Jan. 24, 2025
Progress is a good thing, right? We drive cars instead of horses and buggies. We throw our laundry in a machine instead of toiling for hours over a boiling cauldron of soapy water. And as an electrician, I’ll take today’s automated, wireless homes over climbing around in a hot attic or grungy basement any day of the week.
But some progress isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially when it comes to the bells and whistles on your vehicle. Sure, it’s nice to push a button or hold your hand near a sensor to do what used to take a bit of physical labor, but when those controls lose power or malfunction, you could be stranded or stuck—even inside your car! That’s what happened to five people in Canada last year, when a passing postal worker and other bystanders had to smash their way into a burning Tesla to rescue one of the occupants. The driver and three others weren’t so lucky.
That’s why it’s essential to learn how to escape your car if your electronically controlled doors won’t open, before you hit the road. We know—you probably have some questions, including: Why wouldn’t all manufacturers put in doors that intuitively open in the event of an electrical failure? And does my car have a manual safety feature so I can bypass potential danger?
To get to the bottom of this, I turned to David Bennett, a certified master technician and senior automotive manager at the American Automobile Association (AAA). Read on to find out if your car has this essential safety feature, what to do if it doesn’t and how to stay safe in an emergency.
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What is the potential problem with electronic door latches?
Electronic car door latches need an electrical current to operate, so if your battery dies or something goes wrong with your car’s electrical control system, your car doors might not open normally—or at all.
Good grief. Really? Really. Multiple recent incidents of people getting trapped, their kids getting trapped and emergency responders unable to open the doors from the outside attest to the seriousness of the issue.
When electronic door latches fail to open, explains Bennett, the culprit is usually “a faulty switch or component, an open or short in the system wiring, or a discharged battery.” (Brief electrical aside: “Open” and “short” circuits are two situations that prevent an electrical current from reaching its intended destination—in this case, your door latch.) These things can happen randomly or due to catastrophic events like a crash or vehicle fire, so it’s extremely important to know how to engage the manual door release if the electrical system fails.
Do all cars have a manual safety release?
No. Only cars with electronic door latches and handles would have manual safety releases. That doesn’t mean every door with a fob. While nearly all cars sold today offer power locks and keyless entry, these fob-controlled systems traditionally control mechanical latching systems, which already have a manual release—the door handle.
Electronic door latches, often called e-latches or another branded name, use an electrical signal to lock and unlock the car door; if the signal isn’t there, the door won’t open. Incredibly, having a backup manual door release is not mandatory. “I am not aware of any federal law that requires manufacturers [to have] manual door releases for vehicles equipped with electronic door releases,” Bennett says. “Manufacturers include them for the safety of the vehicle occupants.”
Which cars have a manual release for their electronic doors?
Here’s a list of carmakers and models that use electronic door latches and have manual releases. It’s not exhaustive, so check your manual if you’re unsure whether your car, or one you’re thinking of buying, has a manual safety release.
- Tesla (all models)
- Chevy (Corvette)
- Audi (E-Tron)
- BMW (iX)
- Ford (Mustang Mach-E)
- Lexus (NX, RX, TX)
- Mercedes (EQ models)
- Lincoln (multiple models, including the Navigator)
- Rivian (R1S and R1T)
Unfortunately, having a manual release doesn’t always mean it’s easy to find, as you’ll see below—and it’s especially hard to find if you’re panicking after a crash.
How can you tell if your car has a manual release?
I wish I could tell you these manual releases were consistently in a familiar spot, like under the floorboard carpeting or inside a secret door compartment. But nope—every carmaker puts them in a different place or uses a different procedure to activate the release. So what are you supposed to do? You guessed it: Read the manual.
“Drivers should consult their owner’s manual to understand how to properly operate the vehicle, including the location of a mechanical door handle,” Bennett says. You might have to pull a concealed latch or cable, pop a tab in the floorboard or pull an electronic door handle harder than usual. A recent TikTok demonstrates some of the more common locations and procedures.
@consumerreports Keith Barry, autos reporter at CR, shares why drivers of some modern vehicles should learn where emergency door releases are located—before they need them. #cartok #carsoftiktok #cartips ♬ original sound – Consumer Reports
What can you do to stay safe?
Once you find the manual release, try it out! Do it right in your driveway or garage, and make sure everyone in your family knows how too. Tell all passengers who get in your vehicle, and make sure everyone knows how to operate the front and back door releases (they are rarely, if ever, the same mechanism). You do not want to be fumbling through the manual or trying to locate a hidden latch release during an emergency, Bennett adds.
If your car doesn’t have this feature, how can you unlock a door that isn’t working?
Cars without electronic latches or door handles can still be affected by a loss of power.
If your key fob battery dies and you need to get into your car, look for a small physical key contained within the fob. Pull it out and find the keyhole on or near your car door handle, then open your door using the key. The keyhole might be hidden, so check your manual for details. Don’t forget to change your fob’s battery!
If you’re still stuck, you might be able to use your car’s app or OnStar service to open the doors. If it’s an emergency, dial 911.
Finally, Bennett and AAA recommend keeping a glass-break tool in your car in the event you become trapped. Be aware that traditional tools work only on tempered glass, not laminated. Tempered glass breaks into dull nuggets that won’t slice your skin, while laminated glass has an inner plastic film that makes it nearly impossible to break. Windshields tend to be laminated to prevent the ejection of a car’s occupants, while side windows have historically been tempered.
“Look for side windows with tempered glass instead of laminated glass to break, and help passengers in trapped cars exit quickly,” Bennett says. You can tell which is which by looking for the description on a bottom corner of the window.
What other electronic features in your car should you have contingency plans for?
Unless you own a classic car with purely mechanical components, your car has electronics that can stop working if you lose battery power. It’s important to learn how to work around these systems in case you get stranded, trapped or locked out of your vehicle.
- Car trunk: Unlike the (non) regulations surrounding e-latches, car trunks—by law—must be escapable. “All vehicles manufactured since Sept. 1, 2001, are required to have an internal manual trunk release,” Bennett says.
- Keyless start: Fobs send out radio signals to start your car, and a dead fob battery won’t have enough juice to do it from afar. But it should work up close. Step on the brake and hold the fob directly next to your car’s start button. Depending on your car’s make and model, the start button will light up or make a sound, indicating you can push-start the vehicle as usual, or the car might start immediately.
- Fuel door: Most cars have a manual fuel door release hidden in the trunk or luggage compartment. Find yours by reading your user manual.
- Navigation systems: Your car’s internal navigation system won’t work with a dead battery, so keep your smartphone charged and updated before heading out on a trip. Or consider getting a standalone GPS system with a separate power source.
About the expert
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At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. For this piece on unlocking electronic car doors, Ally Childress tapped her experience as a longtime journalist and licensed electrician to ensure that all information is accurate and offers the best possible advice to readers. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
Sources:
- David Bennett, AAA automotive service expert; email interview, Jan. 21, 2025
- Arizona’s Family (3TV/CBS5): “Arizona Woman Trapped in Tesla After Battery Dies”
- Audi Midtown Toronto: “Audi E-Tron Emergency Door Release”
- BMW USA: “How to Open Doors From Inside the BMW iX”
- CBC News: “4 Killed in Fiery Electric Vehicle Crash in Downtown Toronto”
- Corvette Forum: “How to Get Into (or Out Of) A Corvette with a Dead Battery (C6, C7 or C8 Corvettes)”
- Fox 13 News: “Toddler Dressed as Tinkerbell Trapped in Tesla for Nearly Two Hours in Tampa: ‘This Was Terrifying'”
- WFTV 9: “It Started Smoking: Driver Called 911 After She Felt Trapped in Rivian SUV”
