Not The Onion

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 17 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Honest question: Does a retractable/hidden door handle have any meaningful technical purpose?

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[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 35 points 2 days ago (2 children)

They reduce aerodynamic drag which allows a couple more miles of range.

But there’s no reason to make them electric. Airplanes have had flush door handles for decades.

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[–] cheers_queers@lemmy.zip 14 points 2 days ago (2 children)

aerodynamics doesnt matter on the interior of a vehicle...lets be real, musk thought it would "look cool" and he cares more about looking cool than human safety.

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[–] Anivia@feddit.org 5 points 2 days ago

The ones on the interior are because of the frameless windows. They allow the car to roll down the windows slightly before opening the door.

Other manufacturers like Audi also have electronic door handles on the interior of cars with frameless windows. But they use 2-stage door handles, so if you pull on them all the way there is also a mechanical release, not just a button. Much safer than hiding the mechanical release behind the speaker panel

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[–] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

he cares more about looking cool than human safety.

Just a reminder that "aesthetics over function" is a common trope for fascists

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[–] Gullible@sh.itjust.works 15 points 2 days ago (1 child)

Electric is cheaper and smaller. A local lever system takes up space and requires more machining and can interact with certain pricy patents. An electric one can be further away from the handle, smaller, and involve different, cheaper patents.

However, it is colossally fucking stupid on account of death

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[–] CorrectAlias@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 days ago*

They already have levers on all Rivians, for example. You don't ever have to have the handles in "present" mode.

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[–] Arcanepotato@crazypeople.online 11 points 2 days ago (2 children)

This isn't exactly what you are asking but I wonder if it will be helpful: the hidden/retractable handles require power to work, unlike most car handles which are mechanical. So, the problem isn't that they are retractable and that makes them hard to trigger, it's that they just don't work if they don't have power/control signal.

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[–] toofpic@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Tesla door handle technically could work without electricity, because when you press one end in (risking to break your finger), the other end pops out and you can drag it. This is slightly inconvenient, but as I understand, the most problems were linked to dicks-for-hands engineers designing the car the way where doors can stay locked in case of an accident. So handle or not, you can't open the door and let a person out of a burning car.

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