Hidden Car Door Handles Are Officially Being Banned In China (caranddriver.com)
- Reference: 0180724206
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/02/03/0512212/hidden-car-door-handles-are-officially-being-banned-in-china
- Source link: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a70226741/hidden-car-door-handles-banned-china/
> Automakers have increasingly implemented door handles that retract into the bodywork for aerodynamic reasons, but they are now off limits in China.
> My issue is with electronic-only door latch mechanism. It should be possible to open the door from both inside and outside the car in case of complete power loss.
>
[1] https://slashdot.org/~sinij
complete power loss (Score:2)
It should be possible to open the door from both inside and outside the car in case of complete power loss.
Anything else should be treated as kidnap AND attempted murder.
Re: complete power loss (Score:1)
LOL. Happy to live somewhere between China and the US.
morons (Score:2, Interesting)
break glass
ever traveled on a bus or a train ?
I
you need to escape... punch out frankly this is against any sort of progress and less about safety and more about control... mandate escape methods not how to do them..
Re: (Score:1)
It might be more difficult to break the glass from inside a car than expected especially if you are injured after the crash and the car is in a "weird" position.
There are some tools that will help you make the initial break, after which the glass usually breaks more easily: [1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obajy4mMmJk
Re: (Score:2)
The persons inside/outside the car may be weak, ill or too panicked to break the glass. Especially if the car has reinforced glass windows. It's an action that is a lot more complicated than just opening the door, in a situation where every second may count. The person inside the car may hesitate to break the glass because they're afraid of flying glass shards, or because they don't understand the urgency of the situation and don't want to damage the car any further. Yes that would be extremely stupid but p
Good (Score:2)
Riddance! Shame about mercedes whose exports to china are about to drop like a rock because of their stupid door handles.
Re: Good (Score:2)
Import them without the handles and associated electromechanicals as a manufacturing subassembly. Have someone in China attach a localized handle.
what will Tesla do now with their design? (Score:2)
I was thinking, will Tesla change their design, for China only? Or for everyone else too? It is not a minor change. Interesting test of the power of the Chinese market in shaping (literally) electric cars going forward
Re: (Score:3)
Tesla's door external handles should be fine physically as they don't extend or retract per se, they're on a lever flush with the door. BUT the actual unlatching is electronic - you can pull the lever but if there is no power then nothing will happen. The only way to get in the car if this was the case is to smash the window and reach inside for the mechanical release.
So that's a big safety fail. On top of that, only the front passengers have an accessible mechanical release. The rear passengers technical
Good. And it should be a safety recall (Score:4, Insightful)
For those cars that have them.
Deadly (Score:4, Insightful)
Last summer 3 teenagers burned to death in a Cybertruck near where I live. They were just home from college, borrowing their parents' Tesla, and probably didn't know where the manual override latch was.
A lot of safety is sacrificed for very little to no upside.
Re:Deadly (Score:5, Informative)
"In November 2024 (Thanksgiving Eve), a Tesla Cybertruck crashed at high speed into a tree and wall in Piedmont, California. It carried four college students (all teenagers/young adults around 19-20 years old). The crash caused a fire, and three of them died: Krysta Tsukahara (19), Jack Nelson (20), and the driver Soren Dixon (19). One survivor was pulled out after a good Samaritan broke a window.
The key claim in multiple wrongful death lawsuits (filed in 2025 by families of two victims) is that the Cybertruck's electronic/retractable/flush door handles contributed to the deaths. Allegations include:
The power-dependent electronic handles (and buttons) failed after the crash/power loss.
No easily accessible exterior mechanical handles existed for rescuers to open doors quickly.
Interior manual releases (cables) were hidden/obscure (e.g., under a map pocket liner), hard to find amid smoke, fire, and panic.
Victims reportedly survived the initial impact but were trapped and died from smoke inhalation and burns, not crash injuries.
These lawsuits blame Tesla's design choices for turning a survivable crash into fatalities, and the issue has drawn scrutiny (including from NHTSA investigations into Tesla door systems). Tesla hasn't been found liable yet—the cases are ongoing."
Another issue (Score:2)
Why did the fire break out in the first place? Was it bad design of the batteries? Its by no means the first time a tesla has gone up in smoke in a crash.
Re: Another issue (Score:2)
This just highlights the idiocy of Tesla's design choices even more. Many ICEs catch fire yes, but their occupants can get out of the vehicle when it happens. Tesla's design makes a positive into a negative.
Re: (Score:2)
And the sad part is all this was predictable and obvious well before anybody had to die from this negligent design.
Re: (Score:2)
Tesla has done its very best to turn its vehicles into deathtraps -- note as well the Angela Chao incident (drove into a pond, couldn't get out of the car, rescuers struggled to break in, she died).
The problem -- as usual -- is that Elon Musk has ordered his company to satisfy his pathetic manbaby concept of what's "cool" instead of what's sound engineering and safety practice. That not only includes doors that can be immediately and obviously opened by manual action from either side, but breakable wind
Re: Deadly (Score:2)
> A lot of safety is sacrificed for very little to no upside.
What are you taking about? Musk got to show how cool he is by doing something different again. You don't want Musk to be innovative? Won't someone please think about Elon?
Dumb when unjustified. (Score:2)
> Last summer 3 teenagers burned to death in a Cybertruck near where I live..A lot of safety is sacrificed for very little to no upside.
Uh, can anyone explain the upside specific to that model? It sure as hell wasn’t because aesthetics.
It ain’t flat door handles preventing that thing from hitting 200MPH. It’s Holmes dressed in the latest design by Drag Coefficient riding shotgun saying, “No Shit, Sherlock. It’s a bloody line-reject lunchbox with tires..”
Aesthetics (Score:5, Insightful)
> for aerodynamic reasons
No one is doing it for the aerodynamics.
Re: Aesthetics (Score:2)
Bingo. For aerodynamics, they would find a bigger pay off with wheelwell covers, and those are somewhat rare. Especially on any cars catering to trends and aesthetics.
Re: (Score:2)
A lot of EVs have little slots in front of the front wheels to allow air to pass in and push away from the wheels. So the need for wheel well covers is mitigated.
Flush door handles do make a small difference, as so cameras instead of wing mirrors. Next to the rapidly falling cost of batteries and improvements in the drivetrain they aren't really a big deal though, and are mostly done for aesthetic purposes.
The Electronic-Only Door Latch Mechanism Manifesto (Score:1)
Haters gonna hate, even if we added retractable AM antenna's on our cars.
Re: The Electronic-Only Door Latch Mechanism Manif (Score:5, Insightful)
It's ok to criticize a bad idea.
Now if they could only ban... (Score:5, Insightful)
... touchscreen controls for common tasks such as altering the HVAC or radio/media settings and put back buttons. For some reason the authorities in most countries see m to think its dangerous using a touchscreen phone but perfectly ok to use a touchscreen car interface while doing 70mph.
Re: (Score:3)
Buttons are better, but dials or levers are better yet. Hitting a stupid toggle button that’s indistinguishable from the rest of the row of toggle buttons multiple times to change the temperature is just a stupid idea. I’m looking at you, Mercedes.
Re: (Score:2)
I never change the HVAC settings, and the radio settings only when crossing international borders.
if I find myself in a wrecked car (Score:2)
And the doors won't open I am going to be kicking the hell out of some windows
Re: (Score:2)
> And the doors won't open I am going to be kicking the hell out of some windows
How much acrobatics does it take to get into a position where you can aim a kick at a window? For a typical overweight driver? In a crowded car? Full of smoke? With a broken leg? When you start to panic?
modern cars are less safe (Score:2)
[1]Modern cars are less safe [youtube.com]
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HauQtcj7UTM
Re: modern cars are less safe (Score:5, Insightful)
Better structural design, seatbelts, airbags, and collision avoidance systems make cars safer overall. But those stupid door handles need to go, we don't have to take the bad with the good.
Re: (Score:1)
You survive the crash but now you will burn to death instead.
Re: (Score:2)
Add to that the stupid nagging systems that are just annoying, beeping and throwing up a text about something it thinks is wrong.
An annoyed driver is not a good driver.
Re: modern cars are less safe (Score:2)
Half of people are below average drivers. Those beeps and bells help the idiots comply with what should be common sense. Like put on your seatbelt, don't drive off with the door not fully closed, etc. Cars are mainly for the masses and aren't designed around the use cases of power users and experts.
Re: (Score:2)
Touch screens should never replace buttons when it comes to functions that the driver needs while driving.
GPS is understandable. But the HVAC should not be "only touch screen" and same with things like fuel and speed gauges. Those should be analog gauges.