China has become the first nation to require a change to make it easier to rescue people from car crashes: Car doors must be able to open from either side mechanically, like by lifting a handle.
The rules, which go into effect in 2027, follow international scrutiny of a futuristic design first popularized by Tesla, but adopted by many other automakers, in which door handles are electrically powered and hidden. They lie flush with the vehicle’s exterior until they detect an approaching driver and pop out. They were embraced by automakers for both aerodynamic and aesthetic reasons, but introduced a new kind of vulnerability: They can malfunction after a crash or a battery failure.
As Bloomberg News detailed in an investigative report in September, Tesla’s electrically-powered doors could become impossible to open from the outside in an emergency, forcing responders to break windows to extract survivors.
I have a question about this I haven’t been able to answer.
Is the problem the “flushness” or the lack of mechanical linkage to the door latch?
I’ve been in several Teslas, every model but the Cybertruck, and you push on the fat part and the skinny part comes up, which you pull to open. But as I understand it, that just activates an electrical servo or something that unlatches and partially opens the door, and that’s the problem because without power pulling the handle does nothing.
I had a Jaguar F-type R (I think Range Rovers have the same handles) and it had flush handles that you could set to pop open when you approached, or you could hit a little button on the forward end to pop open the rear end or, like the Tesla, you could push on the forward end to manually raise the rear end and when you pulled on the handle you were mechanically unlatching and opening the door, unlike the Tesla. You could disconnect the battery and still open the door, which as I understand it, you cannot do with a Tesla. Would this be ok?
If it seems far fetched that every news organization keeps talking about flushness when that’s not the problem, I’m willing to entertain it because that’s what happens every time my area of expertise ends up in international news. Whenever my profession, or a related one, is in the news they almost always get it at least a little wrong, and sometimes ridiculously wrong. And they say the same wrong things across all news sources all over the world. I, and others in my group of professions, can see why this happens. They get some basic information but lack context so they interpret it wrong and what comes out is complete nonsense, or at least a little misleading.
Cheers. I suspected there was more to this than just ‘flushness’ which made no sense.
This is one of those weird flashpoint issues.
There are two layers to this. One that is a major problem, and one that… isn’t.
The former is exactly what you identified. The door latches are all purely electric. This leads to the very regular occurrence where someone’s swasticar updates while they are inside of it on a hot day. And their only choice is to sit and roast or to rip open their trim to try to find the manual release. THIS should be 500% illegal but basically no countries actually care.
The other is the flush door handles. Some fatalities have been attributed to them. But the reality is? A door that just got slammed into by a giant pick-up truck ain’t opening. And you gots to be a mother rescuing her baby to get a firm grip on most door handles when the car is on fire.
Yes, flush door handles are a deeply stupid idea and always will be. But the reality is that people REALLY need to keep window smashers in their cars. Like, easily accessible by the front and back seat occupants.
Because if that car is on fire? You ain’t getting a grip on that handle one way or the other. You MIGHT be able to smash a window and drag someone out. Same with a car that is rapidly submerging in water. Even with mechanical handles, NOBODY has the strength to open that door after a shockingly small amount of water. So you are either sitting there waiting for pressure to equalize or you are smashing that window and getting the hell out.
At which point? Flush door handles are still idiotic design. And electric only door controls SHOULD be illegal. But if you actually care about emergencies? Get a god damned hammer for like 30 bucks. Or even just tape a spark plug to your keys.
You can get a spring-loaded automatic center-punch tool for like $5 at any hardware store.
Fun fact regarding the Jag handle, their really old coachwork vehicles had a small version of the same design. I’m afraid I don’t have a vehicle year to offer but it was probably 1920 or earlier, and about 2 inches in total length, and was definitely a security feature because the latch handles could only be popped out by hitting a small button on the inside of the door. The driver sat exposed in a front seat similar to the Ford model T.