Tesla Model 3 Window Shatters Spontaneously Minutes After Taking Delivery

Last October, the roof of a brand new Tesla Model Y flew off while it was being driven home from the dealership. Now, a Model 3 owner from California reports her passenger-side rear window popping with seemingly no explanation.

The window burst out just minutes after taking delivery, Inderpal Kaur told Inside EVs recently. She said that she was taking her sister for their first ride when the incident occurred. Fortunately, with no backseat passengers, neither was hit by the glass, but both were a little alarmed at what could have happened.

This is not the first report of windows shattering without warning. Reports started emerging early in 2020 of spontaneously breaking windows in Model 3s, and then there was the Model Y roof incident in October.

Video of the incidents captured the windows exploding outwards with seemingly no reason. Although the video is somewhat grainy, the fact that they burst outward, rather than inward, would seem to suggest that the inciting force wasn’t a pebble or other object striking the window from outside.

Read Also: Tesla’s Business Is Thriving, But Its Servicing Is Far From Flawless

Indeed, Tesla has taken it upon itself to fix Kaur’s window. She reports that she opened a service ticket and received a response on January 4 from a person she said was “really helpful.”

“Although no one has actually taken a look at the car yet, they have hypothesized that it was due to a defect in the window along with the elevated cabin pressure of a new Tesla,” Kaur told Inside EVs.

The windows shattering are part of a larger perception issue that Tesla faces with regards to its build quality. Along with the shattering glass, the company has acknowledged that a design defect can cause Model 3s bumpers to fall off in the rain.

Shattering windows aren’t a uniquely Tesla problem, though. In 2017, reports emerged that a number of brands, including Volkswagen, Hyundai and Ford, had problems with defective sunroofs.