Denial of Motor Vehicle Defect Petition

This notice sets forth the reasons for the denial of a petition, DP25-002, submitted by Mr. Kevin Clouse to the Administrator of NHTSA (the "Agency") by a letter dated November 7, 2025, under 49 U.S.C. 30162 and 49 CFR part 552. The Petition requests that the Agency initiate a safety defect investigation into allegations that "the emergency egress controls for the mechanical door release are not readily accessible and clearly identifiable" and "as a result fail to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Standard (FMVSS) 206 in the Model Year (MY) 2022 Tesla Model 3 (the "subject vehicles"). After conducting a technical review of (1) consumer complaints submitted by the petitioner; (2) consumer complaint information in NHTSA's databases; and (3) other relevant information in possession of the agency, NHTSA's Office of Defect Investigations (ODI) concluded that it is unlikely that additional investigation would result in finding that a defect related to motor vehicle safety exists, and the issue is best addressed through the rulemaking process. As a result, no further investigation of the issue raised by the Petition is warranted, and the agency has accordingly denied the Petition.