Tesla has faced criticism in the past for the design of its manual release levers, which are considered poorly designed and unintuitively placed.

I like how the article delivered that fact in a way that focuses on their inadequacy while highlighting their existence. It’s like "we know they had a backup option, so shut up. They still weren’t good enough to be available for the emergency when they’re hidden behind shit.

If I put a half-wall up in my house in front of a visible window that can be used as emergency egress, I’m in shit. This hidden latch is no better.

Idk what the exact definition of a full lock in is, but if you have to break a window to get someone out I’d think it still qualifies since the locks were all engaged.

Tesla has faced criticism in the past for the design of its manual release levers, which are considered poorly designed and unintuitively placed

Calling it poorly designed is a massive understatement. The manual release is a wire that is hidden behind a hidden panel. A guy made a video showing how to do it and he struggled to do it despite having practiced a few times in advance. The chance of pulling it off while the car was on fire would be very, very low