NHTSA complaint #11491050

Owner complaint summary

The 12 volt battery on my T2020 Tesla Model 3 failed without warning last week when I entered the driver's side and closed the door. There was a very brief warning on the control screen that the "12 volt battery should be replaced soon." Then the screen went blank and all controls to the car were rendered inoperable. I could not open the door. I had to go on line on my mobile phone to the Tesla website to get the manual to remind myself how to use the mechanical latch on the door. I then exited the car, and could not re-enter the car. My biggest concern is that if a child or an animal were in the back seat there would be NO WAY to get them out without breaking a window. The Tesla technician came the next day to change the 12 volt battery. To do this on a Tesla Model 3, he first had to use an external 12 volt battery to open the "frunk", which he did. However, the car's 12 volt battery was so dead that he could not jump it. He then had to "break in to the car" by inserting a pneumatic pillow into the driver's side window so that he could insert a coat hangar he made himself (he told me Tesla does not supply them!). It took him about an hour of fumbling before he was able to open the mechanical latch on the driver's door; this allowed him to disconnect the main battery unit below the rear seat so he would not be electrocuted when he changed the 12 volt battery in the frunk. So even if I had had a set of jumper cables and an eternal battery at the time the car's 12 volt battery failed, I would have had to break a window to get into the car to rescue a child or animal who might have been trapped in the car. This is clearly a design flaw that should be corrected to improve the safety of a car that I otherwise like very much. I should mention that the Tesla technician said he was seeing a lot of these 12 volt battery failures; he had 4 more to address that very day. Thank you.