By MICHELLE CHAPMAN and BERNARD CONDON, AP Business Writers

Car safety regulators opened an investigation Tuesday into possible defects in Tesla doors that have reportedly left parents with children trapped in the back seat and forced to break windows to get them out.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that the preliminary probe is focused on 2021 Tesla Model Ys after receiving nine reports of electronic door handles becoming inoperative possibly due to low battery voltage.

The company run by billionaire Elon Musk has installed manual door releases inside the vehicles but NHTSA noted that a child may not be able to reach or know how to operate the releases. In four cases, the parents had to break the windows to get inside.

The investigation into Tesla’s most popula

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