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A 20-month year old girl in Arizona was recently locked inside a Tesla<\/a> Model Y after the car\u2019s battery died, creating a \u201clife threatening situation\u201d in which firefighters had to break open the door with an ax to rescue her.\u00a0<\/p>\n Renee Sanchez, the girl\u2019s grandmother, loaded the girl into her car seat for a trip to the Phoenix Zoo. After she closed the rear door, though, Sanchez went around to the front of her car only to find the door wouldn\u2019t open: The car was dead.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI could not get in. My phone key wouldn\u2019t open it. My card key wouldn\u2019t open it,\u201d she told local news network AZFamily<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Michael Brooks, the executive director for nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, told Fortune<\/em> that a toddler trapped in a car, in the Arizona heat, can become critically endangered in 15 minutes. After 30 minutes, many children die in hot cars.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sanchez, faced with what Brooks called a \u201clife threatening\u201d situation, had no choice but to call 911. Scottsdale firefighters raced over, then grew frustrated once they saw the make of the car.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing they said was, \u2018Uggh, it\u2019s a Tesla<\/a>. We can\u2019t get in these cars,\u2019\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018I don\u2019t care if you have to cut my car in half. Just get her out.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The firefighters broke through the window with an ax, climbed through the window, and pulled the toddler out of the car.\u00a0<\/p>\n While the girl was \u201cokay\u201d for the first few minutes, Sanchez said, she became very scared and started crying during the commotion. Her rescuers gave her a little fire hat to calm her down once she was out of the car.\u00a0<\/p>\n After she saw her granddaughter was fine, \u201cthen the anger\u201d came, Sanchez said. \u201cAll the thoughts of, oh my God, this could have been so much worse.\u201d<\/p>\n Her 12-voltage battery\u2014responsible for powering the car\u2019s electric systems\u2014had died without warning. Teslas are supposed to have persistent warning signs when its 12-voltage battery is low, EV expert Mike Klimkosky said.\u00a0<\/p>\n That the battery would simply turn off \u201cseems very odd,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n A representative from the Tesla service department confirmed to Sanchez that she indeed received no warnings. Tesla did not respond to Fortune<\/em>\u2019s request for comment by press time.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSafety comes last\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n There is a mechanism<\/a>\u2013outlined in Tesla\u2019s online safety manual\u2013for drivers to unlock their cars when they are stuck outside, which was unbeknownst to Sanchez or the firefighters who came to rescue her granddaughter. It involves opening a three-inch circle near the front of the car called a toe cover, pulling out the cables within it, and connecting those cables to an external power supply (like a portable jump starter). That would allow the hood of the trunk to open, giving drivers access to the 12-voltage battery, which they could then jumpstart.\u00a0<\/p>\n For Klimkosky, who heads a nonprofit<\/a> dedicated to teaching first responders EV safety, the responsibility lies with the firefighters for not knowing how to jump-start the Tesla. He claims the process would have been faster and easier than breaking through the car.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the responsibility of the fire department to educate themselves,\u201d Klimkosky said. Tesla, and most other car manufacturers, have an emergency response guide on their websites available to first responders. The onus isn\u2019t on those manufacturers to continue educating firefighters, Klimkosky said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yet, he acknowledges that local fire departments don\u2019t have enough specialized training to deal with these incidents. That\u2019s why he started his nonprofit: to provide a resource for fire departments to get outside help, and \u201ctransition to the new world.\u201d<\/p>\n Brooks, the executive director for Center for Auto Safety, thought it was \u201cabsurd\u201d to blame the firefighters for not knowing how to open the car.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not the firefighters\u2019 fault that Tesla chose electronic door latches that don\u2019t have proper emergency safeguards,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Tesla has manual release doors for when you are inside the car and unable to get out, but they are unmarked, unlike seatbelts and airbags. Brooks said this was Tesla\u2019s choice to put \u201cform over function,\u201d that was ultimately \u201cunsafe.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen there\u2019s not a federal standard that specifies how these vehicles are to be made, Tesla very rarely chooses routes that are safe,\u201d Brooks noted. \u201cThey\u2019re usually choosing something glitzy: safety comes last.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Brooks added this incident contributed to an overall \u201cfailure in Tesla\u2019s safety culture.\u201d Earlier this year, Tesla had to recall<\/a> almost 2.2 million cars in almost every model sold since 2012. Last year, Angela Chao, a shipping industry CEO and sister-in-law to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, died<\/a> after she drove her Tesla into a lake and became trapped.<\/p>\n Yet, Klimkosky found it unfair to blame Tesla for a problem that all vehicles with electric-door release systems face. He said Tesla goes out of its way to make the toe cover clear and obvious for first responders.\u00a0<\/p>\n But there are thousands of first responders, and at least 150 different types of vehicles; firefighters cannot be expected to memorize the safety procedure of each vehicle, Brooks said. Tesla should not hide their safety features for the sake of appearance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sanchez, for her part, sided with Brooks\u2019 camp, saying Tesla needed better emergency systems and more education for first responders. She was a prior fan of Tesla, but this episode has turned her off from the company.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI give Tesla props. When it works, it\u2019s great. But when it doesn\u2019t, it can be deadly,\u201d Sanchez said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n