"I put her in the back seat in her car seat, strapped her in, went to open my door and my car would not open," Renee Sanchez tells Inside Edition.
Arizona firefighters rescued a child trapped in a Tesla after the car battery died.
Renee Sanchez tells Inside Edition her granddaughter was trapped in her car.
"I put her in the back seat in her car seat, strapped her in, went to open my door and my car would not open," Sanchez says. "I could not get in and my granddaughter was trapped."
Sanchez says she did not get a warning that her car battery had died. The Scottsdale grandmother called 911.
Firefighters broke the window with an ax and safely removed her grandchild.
Car expert Vlad Fayer showed Inside Edition that there is a hidden latch inside most Teslas that will manually open the door when it is locked shut.
Fayer says the placement of hidden latches varied depending on the electric vehicle.
A separate battery controls door electronics and it needs to be replaced occasionally, experts say.
As for Sanchez, she plans to keep her driver's side door wide open when fastening her granddaughter's car seat to prevent her from ever being locked inside again.
It is estimated there are 3.3 million electric cars on U.S. roadways.
