[adamjcook]

> I'm not sure why they don't explicitly write in the report that the driver may have been trapped in the back seat, and was unable to locate or use the mechanical release to escape.

Because the NTSB cannot establish that conclusively given the almost total lack of physical evidence remaining after the vehicle fire.

It does not mean that a vehicle defect does not actually exist from the NTSB's point-of-view. It just means that the NTSB lacks the physical evidence to conclude anything there.

(I personally find the necessary "additional steps" required for exiting the vehicle from the rear seats in the event of a power loss troubling.)

More broadly, this NTSB report is being misinterpreted by many here.

The "probable causes" (not "causes") and "lessons learned" (tellingly distinct from the NTSB's more traditional "safety recommendations") established in the final report are exactly tailored to the physical evidence and physical facts that did remain independently of Tesla (the company) - and no more.

The actual title of the HN submission is, in my view, inappropriately written by excluding the word "probable".