In this particular case, they are suing because the door wouldn't open, which is a pretty reasonable expectation of an undamaged door.
The "reasonable expectation that a door will open if it is not visibly damaged" applies no matter what the underlying mechanism of the door is.
> but thats an RTFM problem, not a car problem.
Even if people did read the manuals for their cars- which no one does- people frequently forget things like this in emergency situations when they need to get out quickly. Hence things like big red signs for fire doors. Passing the responsibility onto them for doors that don't work is absurd.
In this case, the passengers were able to display adaptability and get out, but had they been physically disabled or had there been clutter inside the vehicle, the two front doors and rear door might not have been viable options.
That these people were able to escape before the battery fire is, of course, a good ending, but it's not a positive statement on the engineering decisions made.
More apt would be "The main doors are manual, but the electric garage doors will not function" ... which is actually a common case in buildings...