The lawsuit, filed Friday, alleges that the Model S’s lithium-ion battery pack caused the electronic door system to fail.
Published on November 3, 2025
Electric vehicle company Tesla has been sued over a fatal crash in the United States that killed all five occupants of a Model S, who were allegedly trapped inside due to a design flaw that prevented them from opening the sedan’s doors.
Jeffrey Bauer, 54, of Crandon, Wisconsin, and Michelle Bauer, were passengers in a Model S when the car veered off the road and hit a tree on Nov. 1, 2024, in Verona, Wisconsin, a suburb of Madison. He died the next day.
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According to a complaint filed Friday by the Boyers’ four children, the Model S’s lithium-ion battery pack caused the electronic door system to fail, sealing the couple’s fate.
Sons said Tesla knew this could happen based on previous fires, yet made a “deliberate departure from known, practicable safety practices.”
Tesla, based in Austin, Texas and led by Elon Musk, did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Reuters news agency on Monday.
The automaker has also been sued by the families of two college students killed in a Cybertruck crash in suburban San Francisco last November, alleging the design of the door handles locked them into the burning vehicle.
In September, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration disclosed a possible investigation Defects on some Tesla doorsThe following reports that the handle may fail.
The Bauer guys said the Model S rear-seat passenger, Michelle Bauer, was especially vulnerable in a crash because she would have to lift the carpeting to find a metal tab that allowed her to exit, which is counterintuitive.
A nearby homeowner told 911 she heard Bauers yelling from his vehicle, the complaint said.
“Tesla’s design choices created a highly potential hazard: passengers who survived the crash would be trapped in the burning vehicle,” according to the complaint.
Other defendants include the estate of the car’s driver, who the Bauer children accuse of negligent driving.
On Wall Street, Tesla stock rose 2.5 percent.