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New Rules Could Force Tesla to Redesign Its Door Handles. That’s Harder Than It Sounds (www.wired.com)
submitted 11 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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https://archive.ph/2GcBa

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[–] 187 points 11 months ago (20 children)

After renting a couple cars with electronic door poppers, I find them plainly worse than mechanical door latches. They're a solution in search of a problem, and some implementations are hazardous.

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  • [–] 30 points 11 months ago* (8 children)

    I think having an electric popper on top of an mechanical door latch (actual door handles are standard mechanic, but there's solenoid that can actuate them independently) is okay if you can find an actual usecase.

    I mean sure still stupid but at least it isn't dangerous.

    Same way electric locks have worked for the past 30 years on cars.

    An old civic might be able to unlock from a key fob, but that's only an electronically controlled solenoid controlling a lock which is mechanical in nature, and who's main user-accessible interaction point is mechanically linked to the lock.

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  • [–] 14 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (7 children)

    I think having an electric popper on top of an mechanical door latch is okay

    The problem with having both is that the electronic one is always the primary one, and the one people will use daily. In particular Tesla hides the mechanical ones really well. So in an emergency situation, people panic and have no idea where it is or how to use it.

    Same way electric locks have worked

    Electric locks actually serve a purpose though. And they're not a danger to passengers inside. What purpose do electric door handles serve? Other than being more prone to failure, more expensive, and dangerous?

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  • [–] 5 points 11 months ago

    What purpose do electric door locks serve? Other than being more prone to failure, more expensive, and dangerous?

    An oligarch's fancy?

    I'm sure in product meetings it's been brought up that it's a dumb thing and they could save money and make the cars safer by not having them, then the oligarch speaks up.

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  • [–] 4 points 11 months ago (3 children)

    The purpose of the electric latch is to save the frameless window panes. It can lower the window slightly in the instant before it opens, to break the seal and avoid torsion on the glass.

    Now, frameless windows are stupid and not necessary, so theres that. One dumb idea propagates another.

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  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 child)

    The problem with having both is that the electronic one is always the primary one, and the one people will use daily.

    Yeah that's the design flaw. Thats literally what im saying they shouldn't do. You can make a mechanical-first door with an internal solenoid thats capable of popping the door.

    The main and only handles on all the doors should be mechanical only, with door popper buttons for all four doors on the driver-side arm rest (where window controls go)

    What purpose do electric door handles serve? Other than being more prone to failure, more expensive, and dangerous?

    Electric door poppers ARE NOT the same thing as electric door handles, pick a thing to complain about.

    POPPERS (IE:solenoids) allow the driver to open doors for passengers, while also ensuring the main way in and out is NOT dependent on electronics (when properly implemented).

    Unnecessary luxury? Sure, but so are cars in a lot of the world. Solenoids are cheap, and the idea is not inherently a danger when done right.

    Your issue isn't electronically controlled door poppers. Its cars being made by silicon valley, y-combinator sucking, tech-bro douchebags who thought replacing the mechanical handle with a button was a good idea.

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  • [–] 7 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    They were hazardous when they were on Corvettes too. They should have banned them back then.

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  • [–] 7 points 11 months ago (6 children)

    I hear they are a solution to the problem of increasing mileage/efficiency. I am no fan of Tesla, but we have to admit, there is some merit to that argument, however debatable the efficiency benefits are.

    That's not to say safety isn't a serious issue. The biggest problem is the reliance on electronics. Now if someone can reinvent the design with a highly reliable mechanical system, with multiple redundancy.

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  • [–] 17 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 child)

    To my knowledge, there are designs which allow you to pop out the latch without the need for electronics.

    However, if I'm reading the article correctly those wouldn't be allowed either because in their default state they don't have "enough room for a hand to grip behind them". That wording alone explicitely bans flush doorhandles, and not just electronic doorhandles

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  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago

    The ones that work on springs are inherently dangerous because in the event of a crash it's very possible that some very important bits of plastic will get misaligned and the handle will get jammed behind the frame. The steel construction of the latch is much less likely to be damaged in a crash

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  • [–] 5 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    I've seen three designs for purely mechanical flush door handles in production use:

    • A handle with a central hinge where one side is pushed inward to make the other side stick out to be pulled. This design has been used on aircraft for many decades, and has also made its way to a few cars.
    • A pull-up door handle with an additional flap in front of the access area. This was used on the Subaru XT/Alcyone/Vortex.
    • A handle that pushes in to open, usually found on a portion of the door that's more horizontal to the ground. Used on the C3 Corvette, among others.

    The push-then-pull central hinge is probably not a great choice for the application because its operation will be less obvious to a rescuer trying to get the door open quickly. It's still better than something that requires electronics.

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