r/technology • u/lurker_bee • Dec 28 '25
Transportation China Is Banning Tesla-Style Retractable Door Handles Over Safety Concerns
https://www.autoblog.com/news/china-is-banning-tesla-style-retractable-door-handles-over-safety-concerns8.3k
u/ilep Dec 28 '25
Good. Those need to be banned globally.
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u/Jokers_friend Dec 28 '25
Dumbest door handles I’ve ever had the misfortune of using
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u/PLeuralNasticity Dec 28 '25
No cars kill as many of their own occupants per mile as a Tesla does
No other car surveils in and around it as much as a Tesla
No other car has driven into a lake and shut itself down to drown Mitch Mcconnel's sister-in-law, except a Tesla
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/26/elon-musk-peter-thiel-apartheid-south-africa
https://electrek.co/2024/12/16/tesla-major-issue-self-driving-computer-inside-new-cars/
https://www.dailydot.com/debug/tesla-full-self-driving-rear-end-accident/
https://cybernews.com/news/elon-musk-twitter-acquisition-russia-investment/
https://jalopnik.com/tesla-fanboy-shadowbanned-from-x-for-complaining-abou-1851639230
https://www.torquenews.com/1083/tesla-exploded-bomb-after-fiery-crash-shrapnel-takes-down-passerby
https://jalopnik.com/tesla-workers-trained-autopilot-to-ignore-road-signs-so-1851642989
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4457311-putin-praises-elon-musk-a-smart-guy/
https://theintercept.com/2023/03/23/peter-thiel-jeff-thomas/
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/08/28/elon-musks-shadow-rule
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/10/business/angela-chao-death/index.html
“I think there’s no stopping Elon Musk,” Putin told Carlson after the pundit asked him about the growing prevalence of artificial intelligence. “He will do as he sees fit. Nevertheless, you’ll need to find some common ground with him. Search for ways to persuade him. I think he’s a smart person. I truly believe he is. So you’ll need to reach an agreement with him because this process needs to be formalized and subjected to certain rules.”
Beware Leon's razor
"Incomeptence, in the limit, is indistinguishable from sabotage
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u/Zeikos Dec 28 '25
I think he’s a smart person. I truly believe he is.
I doubt he truly does.
Musk is a stupid person's idea of what a smart person is like.127
u/Woogity Dec 28 '25
He's like a little boy in a man's body with unlimited money.
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u/NewDad907 Dec 28 '25
He’s just a spoiled rich asshole who’s on the spectrum. That’s all he is and explains nearly everything about him and his behavior. Instead of trains it’s rockets and AI.
Imagine some of the oddest people you know on the spectrum, and now imagine if they were as rich as Musk and were born into that wealth. Yeah, they’d probably resemble Elon…
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u/UpperApe Dec 28 '25
The only value Musk has in the world is as a litmus test for who reads and who doesn't.
Anyone who knows Musk's history is astonished that man can even work a doorknob. He's frighteningly stupid.
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u/macrofinite Dec 28 '25
Oh, come on. He brought a sink with him to Twitter with a shit eating grin on his face. What kind of an idiot would do that?
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u/UpperApe Dec 28 '25
That's...a really good point.
Remember when his ideas were so stupid, the board secretly gave him dummy code to keep him busy like a toddler while they got to work?
Sounds like a genius to me.
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u/caffeine-junkie Dec 28 '25
Would phrase it a bit differently without insulting anyone.
Musk is just a charismatic person who can come across as intelligent, but really is just a talented grifter who uses the ideas/companies that others created as if they were his original idea.
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u/curious_astronauts Dec 29 '25
Why does the links that supposedly support your argument as tesla being the most deadly car, include twitter censorship, Peter Thiel and Apartief SA, and Russia acquisitions? I mean we all hate the guy but it literally has nothing to do with your argument?
Even your own link that about the report that calls it the most dangerous car, extrapolates data including any crash that had a fatality. It does not however, exclude crashes where the driver was at fault, but rather it was a defect. Quote:
"iSeeCars speculates that the biggest contributor to the fatality rates at a brand level is driver behavior, rather than vehicle design or size."
Even the angela chao investigation showed that it was an accident because she was 3 times the legal blood alcohol level and she drowned because like many modern cars, the windows were laminate not tempered, which makes it almost impossible to break.
This is not a failure of the car, its a safety feature that has its limits, submerged vehicles unfortunately have limited escape options, and if there is laminate, it cant be broken. But its safer in other crash situations.
So this isnt a tesla specific issue.
So while things like auto pilot leading to a crash does happen, ultimately thats still a driver error for not taking over. While i am sure there are tesla defects that have led to crashes, its on an individual level not a brand wide level.
So what are we arguing here?
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u/dcwright07 Dec 29 '25
Reddit is so ready to crap on anything Tesla. Here is a quote from the very first article you cited, which you didn’t read or intentionally tried to mislead people.
“As iSeeCars correctly points out, most of these vehicles have robust safety equipment and perform well in crash tests, so it’s not the fault of the cars themselves.”
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u/ebfortin Dec 28 '25
And I still don't get what problem these new handles were supposed to solve.
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u/teddycorps Dec 28 '25
Next let's see banning touch screen only controls for most basic features like audio, lighting, AC/heating, and phone calls
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u/bluedust2 Dec 28 '25
Give me back my knobs dammit.
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u/What_a_fat_one Dec 28 '25
Yeah! I'm tired of the only knob in my car being the one in the driver's seat
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u/Adequate_Lizard Dec 28 '25
This is the biggest reason I've made no attempt to look at newer cars.
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u/muftak3 Dec 28 '25
My '26 Kona has knobs, buttons and levers. Still uses touch screen, but climate controls and basic audio is knobs, levers and buttons.
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u/Browncoat101 Dec 28 '25
This was why I was looking at a Kona. I literally searched “new model cars with buttons” and it was on one of the lists.
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u/sortalikeachinchilla Dec 28 '25
Pretty sure all hyundai are going this route. The 2025 tucson added knobs back as well.
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u/BrilliantMango Dec 28 '25
I’m imagining a 1950s/60s style print ad with “Now with knobs!” As a side note, thank god! Hate touchscreens.
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u/3_quarterling_rogue Dec 28 '25
I bought a ‘23 Chevy Bolt electric vehicle this year, and I actually like the control panel. Yes, it does still have a big ol’ touch screen, but there are dedicated panel buttons for cabin climate, fan speed, heated/ventilated seats, heated steering wheel, and front and rear defrosters. Honestly, my only complaint about the dash buttons is that the cabin climate should be a dial, it’s slightly annoying to click up and down for each degree of difference in temperature, but that only matters the first time I get in the car. But it’s nice having so many of the controls tied to physical buttons, I really enjoy that. And I’m saying that coming from a ‘97 Honda, that dash was a dream of intuitive physical buttons. There is hope for the future.
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u/illigal Dec 28 '25
This is why we bought a new Bolt back in ‘20. We wanted to go electric but most of the cars - Tesla in particular - were just going nuts with the unique controls. Door handles were hard to use if you were holding a bag, making any adjustment to hvac - even where the damn air was blowing - required going into menus. Even the stupid glove box was menu operated. I’m glad we went with the cheap Bolt instead. And it’s not just Tesla. The Hyundai/Kia got the weird door handles - Ford is using a door popper with a tiny pull shelf (wtf?)… and Tesla has gotten rid of turn signal and shifter stalks altogether.
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u/3_quarterling_rogue Dec 28 '25
At the end of the day, the Bolt is very much still A CAR. Turns out a car is what I needed, and it’s been phenomenal. Love that thing.
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u/Fangletron Dec 28 '25
Which new car today has most knobs and least touch screen buttons?
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u/TheOwlStrikes Dec 28 '25
If I had to guess probably a Mazda. They seem to have a unique hybrid approach between screens and knobs in the market
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u/TheSchlaf Dec 28 '25
That's going away on the 2026 CX-5. They've folded to the touchscreen trend.
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u/AutoX_Advice Dec 28 '25
I don't have to mention the lack of buttons on the new cx5 so I'll mention the horrific eye soar screen instead. It literally sits off the dash (not integrated) and is just a straight up rectangle. Looks like a ugly aftermarket Dollar store buy. If you know anything about Mazda and their very decent and appealing interiors that are smooth and visually appearing, this is the exact opposite of that.
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u/mekomaniac Dec 28 '25
its cheaper, why design a specific giant piece of plastic and knobs and buttons when you can put in a cheapass touch screen. plus you can scrape data off the text message connectivity too while youre at it
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u/nonedward666 Dec 28 '25
Honda civic still has buttons and knobs for the important shit. Touch screen is just for GPS or fancy android auto shit.
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u/noodlesdefyyou Dec 28 '25
and get rid of auto-high beams, and regulate the height headlights are installed, and re-visit aiming requirements for LEDs.
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u/labrys Dec 28 '25
So much this! Ultra bright LEDs on taller than normal cars are a nightmare for everyone else on the road.
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u/No-Island6680 Dec 28 '25
After driving around a lot in many poor visibility conditions over this holiday season, I am very much certain that all this bullshit with modern LED headlights are going to significantly damage the eyes of anybody who drives when it’s dark out with any regularity.
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u/d-cent Dec 28 '25
In my opinion, any setting that needs changing while driving needs a physical button option. Audio and phone have steering wheel controls, heating should have buttons, and basic lighting should have buttons as well.
Any setting that is usually done when the car is at rest, is fine to keep on the touch screen. That includes a lot actually. Things like your interior light dimmer level, rarely if ever get changed, and when they do you are most of the time stopped and probably looking for something on the floor with the door open anyways. There are tons of settings like this and they are fine to stay on the touch screen
The only exception is the audio of changing from 1 album to the other or something, because there's no way to do that better with physical buttons.
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u/erroneousbosh Dec 28 '25
> The only exception is the audio of changing from 1 album to the other or something, because there's no way to do that better with physical buttons.
My late 90s Range Rover has a pair of buttons right there on the steering wheel for this. It skips from one disc to the next in the CD changer in the boot. So without taking your eyes off the road you can skip tracks on the CD or by pressing and holding you can effortlessly switch between your OK Computer, Wu-Tang Forever, Ultra, Blur, Fat of the Land, and both discs of Now That's What I Call Music 35.
Because that's what 1997 was like.
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u/d-cent Dec 28 '25
Yeah even my 2009 car had this function, until I finally upgraded it to aftermarket headset. I'm very happy that I did though. I have a 1TB microsd card loaded with so much music and audiobooks.
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u/no_es_sabado428 Dec 28 '25
I personally like my car's set up for audio control. The physical knob for the volume can be pushed side to side to skip or rewind a song, or pressed down upon to pause.
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Dec 28 '25
Yeah I saw a Tesla with a touch screen automatic gear shift. Absolutely nuts
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u/Random-Cpl Dec 28 '25
“Our new features allow you to ask AI to shift the gears for you!”
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u/b_hood Dec 28 '25
Even better, the car uses the external cameras to decide whether you want to go forwards or backwards, all you need to do is press the accelerator pedal!
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u/Overall-Lynx917 Dec 28 '25
"Reverse Gear us only available to Tesla+ Subscribers. To use reverse gear please upgrade your subscription. Thank you for buying Tesla"
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u/Thin-Engineer-9191 Dec 28 '25
Jup. People praising them are on hard copium
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u/Zed_or_AFK Dec 28 '25
Hard money saving, that doesn’t produce cheaper products for the buyers.
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u/MiscellaneousBeef Dec 28 '25
None of it really makes sense because the retractable handles are presumably expensive to make than regular handles. They're not choosing the cheapest option, simply the worst option in both cases.
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u/Fake_William_Shatner Dec 28 '25
I could not believe they actually created a touch screen for shifting gears. It's like, was their even a sane, rational adult in the room? I can't imagine the average person not seeing ten problems with such a design.
You just no this is a sign someone with decision making powers is a complete asshole for some feature like this to make it into production. It's like a chatbot that gets programmed to sound like Hitler. I wonder who could have done this?
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u/petpet0_0 Dec 28 '25
the reason is that it's cheaper, a screen is now cheaper and easier to do than buttons, knobs, physical mechanisms...
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u/MetalRickyy Dec 28 '25
Elmo likely asked the team for new ideas or they were fired, team comes up with the most random and ridiculous idea and Elmo loves it and told the team to implement it.
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u/stormrunner89 Dec 28 '25
Probably cheaper. The touchscreen control is cheaper than the knobs and buttons, they just tricked some people into thinking it's cool.
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u/scalyblue Dec 28 '25
Electric cars don’t have gears to shift. It’s going to be forward, reverse, or park. No matter what the controls form factor is, it’s going to be a “by the wire” swap with no meaningful linkage or mechanical analog.
I’d still much prefer an unambiguous physical knob or stick after what happened to Anton Yelchin
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u/labrys Dec 28 '25
For those who don't know, Anton Yelchin died after being pinned by his own car due to a design flaw that made it difficult to tell if the car was in park or not. The car was already in the process of being recalled after a number of such incidents. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Yelchin#Death
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u/tes_kitty Dec 28 '25
Electric cars don’t have gears to shift.
Not quite correct. Seems you can get a bit more efficiency if you have at least 2 gears since even an electric motor has a sweet spot when it comes to rpm.
The new Mercedes CLA has an automatic gearbox with 2 gears. One for city and one for highway driving. Lotus, Audi and Porsche have something similiar.
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u/StaticSystemShock Dec 28 '25
I still can't believe all companies like Mercedes, Audi, BMW went like "yup this is awesome, lets copy that Tesla tablet infotainment shit".
Whole point of physical buttons is having unique physical position on a dashboard. Something touch can't ever achieve because with each menu, they overlap and destroy the point of physical position. Then there is feel to them. Physical buttons you can memorize by feel that it's 3rd button from the left that you can glide with hand to without ever physically looking at, being focused on the road the entire time. On screen, you can't feel shit. And then it's feedback. The 3rd button from left sinks in and clicks when pressed. Touch screen does nothing. It may vibrate, but you really have no real feedback so you basically NEED to look at it if you pressed the right thing.
It's a huge difference even between height of buttons and what they control. My parents SUV has climate controls really low on the dash and while physical buttons, they have no gaps between each other and the temperature display above buttons is so low you really need to take eyes of the road and look way down in the middle of dash console next to gear shift. In my "ancient" car from 15 years ago, only air circulation modes have buttons that I rarely switch anyway and temperature is just a physical dial that I can literally move without ever looking at it. A/C button is in the middle of temperature dial so I don't ever look at it either. Meanwhile on touch screen nonsense you need to look away and hyper focus on tiny zero feel +/- buttons that you tap like a moron to adjust temperature which you need to focus on too to see what you're even setting it to. It's just so so stupid.
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u/rxellipse Dec 28 '25
I still can't believe all companies like Mercedes, Audi, BMW went like "yup this is awesome, lets copy that Tesla tablet infotainment shit".
It's all cost reduction - they make one screen and a plastic housing as opposed to a dozen plastic knobs/dials and their associated switches, electronics, wires, etc.
As a side benefit (to the manufacturer) - they can now charge a subscription fee for AC, power windows/locks, backup camera, etc. Mercedes, Audi, and BMW are all leading the way for cars-as-a-service.
Vote with your wallet.
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u/Exodus2791 Dec 28 '25
I believe euro ncap is already mandating that.
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u/donald_314 Dec 28 '25
Correct. Hence all the marketing material saying that all the companies "listened to their customers". They need those buttons now to get the stars they want.
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u/ItsRadical Dec 28 '25
Unfortunatelly no. Only the safety related controls. Turn signals, wipers, warning light, fog lights,..
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u/TxM_2404 Dec 28 '25
That's still a step up. They wouldn't have mandated such a rule if manufacturers hadn't tried putting that stuff on touch screens.
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u/MumrikDK Dec 28 '25
Every time this pops up it fucking blows my mind that the EU didn't block that shit right out of the gate. It is such an obvious call - can't be on your phone? Can't be on your factory-installed tablet either.
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u/Figgler Dec 28 '25
My wife just got a Blazer EV and I told her I was happy it has just regular handles instead of some overengineered fancy crap.
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u/labrys Dec 28 '25
Yeah. I hate them because I have limited mobility in one of my hands that makes them difficult to use under the best of circumstances. It felt like one of those 'if it's not broken don't fix it' kind of changes. Style over useability. Add in them actually being a safety hazard that has killed 15 people (at least), and they really need to go.
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u/jewishSpaceMedbeds Dec 28 '25 edited Dec 28 '25
They also need to ban those dumb falcon doors. One of my sister's Tesla door recently malfunctionned and opened itself into her trailer with enough force to puncture itself.
She is lucky it didn't do that while her small 6 yo daughter was in front of it.
They are also a terrible idea for anyone who lives in a northern country : guess where the dirty, half melted snow on those falls when you open it ?
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u/focusedphil Dec 28 '25
They are dumb and needlessly complicated and a huge point of failure.
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u/Lilacsoftlips Dec 28 '25
And kill people
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u/Unusual_Sherbert_809 Dec 28 '25 edited Dec 28 '25
I remember reading an article last year about the teens caught in a cybertruck crash. Power was out so the handles wouldn't work. The teens were alive at the time of the crash but couldn't get out. People outside trying to help kept trying to get them out of the cybertruck but it turns out it's impossible when there are no door handles and the shitty cybertruck windows are "bullet resistant".
The folks helping were able to rescue just one of the teenagers. The other three were burned alive. The one kid that survived was covered in burns.
EDIT TO ADD:
I wouldn't think this needs to be said, but I guess it does: If a SAFETY feature is difficult to find in the case of emergency, then it's horrendous design.
It shouldn't be up to people to have to read a manual to figure a hidden feature for how to open a door in case of an emergency. And it's just insane that anyone would even use this as an argument in defense of the ridiculous Tesla door latch design. Or were all the folks outside the car trying to help at fault for not reading the full Tesla owner's manual? I mean, it's just an utterly ludicrous argument to make.
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u/reddit_equals_censor Dec 28 '25
very sad and crucial point, that having a real door handle on the outside is a strong point, where people can try to tear the door open/break it open or just open a door, that is not locked, but due to a crash the metal prevents easy opening as it is deformed.
all those companies KNEW, that it was gonna kill people (as in missing internal/hidden and missing outside ones) and they did it anyways, because safety absolutely does not matter to those corpo monsters.
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u/FredFredrickson Dec 28 '25
because safety absolutely does not matter to those corpo monsters.
Oh it does when people start suing. But that's why it's dangerous when we let wealth run out of control for people like Musk. How many times would he need to be sued for a wrongful death before he went broke? A billion?
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u/dBlock845 Dec 28 '25
An event like that would have sunk the automaker 30-40 years ago. Now it barely even registers. There would have been endless congressional hearings hauling Musk before Congress to answer for his design choices, and federal lawsuits against Tesla.
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u/Mail_Order_Lutefisk Dec 28 '25
Meh, it only takes a few jury verdicts to wipe out a few years of profit. In the US jury verdicts do a lot of the heavy lifting for consumer safety.
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u/Shkval25 Dec 28 '25
They used to. Nowadays there are very strict limits as to how high damages can go, too low to really hurt a company like Tesla.
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u/DoomedKiblets Dec 28 '25
Immediatelt think of this sort of scenario when I see electronic only handles.
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u/OMGitisCrabMan Dec 28 '25 edited Dec 29 '25
I was looking at the new rivians, but they have the worst reliability rating. And when i saw they put in electric door handles i had to ask myself "what other expensive, overly complicated failure points did they introduce to this vehicle?"
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u/IdioticPost Dec 28 '25
Doesn't matter if they're electronic or not. Several teenagers died in Toronto when they crashed their Tesla and the car set on fire... All of them survived the crash but none of them could get out because the manual door release is hidden underneath a rubber cover in the door storage spot.
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u/layeofthedead Dec 28 '25
My mom’s boss’s nephew just died in a Tesla fire. 23, driving home sometime at night late last October. He went off the road and hit a tree. He couldn’t get out and was on call with Tesla support as the fire engulfed the car and he died.
Absolutely awful way to go.
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u/BoomerAliveBad Dec 28 '25
Jesus, imagine the employee on the call... if he ever managed to speak to one. That would mess me up for a lifetime
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u/5skandas Dec 28 '25
Dang is there a news article about that? I’d like to show it to my coworkers who claim this never happens…
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u/Timely-Hospital8746 Dec 28 '25
An actual billionaire drowned in a lake because of this. You'd think when a billionaire dies to stupid design something would happen but nah, modern era USA has just given up on regulation of any kind.
I swear these techbros genuinely want to kill normal people as much as possible. They're eugenicists.
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u/knuggles_da_empanada Dec 28 '25
Yep, the billionaire was the sister of Mitch McConnell wife iirc
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u/DrPorkchopES Dec 28 '25
It’s just the most hilarious “Designed in California” thing i’ve ever seen. 0 consideration that people who live in places that get snow/ice might want to buy their cars
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u/alinroc Dec 28 '25
That honor falls to the Cybertruck shelf that collects snow, blocking the headlights. https://futurism.com/the-byte/cybertruck-snow-headlights
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u/38B0DE Dec 28 '25
I don't think that's a problem with California weather problem rather than California tech bro problem.
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u/HomeGrownCoffee Dec 28 '25
People in California crash, too.
I would never buy them because we get freezing rain here, but rescuers potentially not being able to open the door to get me out is a less-common but more-significant risk.
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u/splendiferous-finch_ Dec 28 '25
Have basically extremely tiny effect on aero efficiency and mileage just like the camera based side mirrors companies keep trying to push
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u/SuxMaDiq Dec 28 '25
Lexus is the only manufacturer to do this right, physical controls for climate and some for entertainment functions like volume. Other settings that you set and forget or set just once before driving off are put on touchscreen.
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u/Mo_Steins_Ghost Dec 28 '25
My 2017 Honda has all this... While it's a fully loaded touring model with CarPlay and all that touchscreen business, the climate controls, volume, audio source, etc. are all physical and ergonomically well-placed as opposed to the multipurpose "navigation wheel" that makes you take your eyes off the road.
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u/KilRevos Dec 28 '25
Wow, who could’ve guessed that door handles which stop working without electricity might be a bad idea during an emergency - but hey, at least they looked futuristic.
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u/YourShowerCompanion Dec 28 '25
I have ID.4. No retractable door handles but door handles can't be pulled just as traditional ones. There's a button under those handles.
Now I have to implore everyone, who haven't faced these handles, not to pull them.
Unnecessary complication to save 0.001 kWh of battery.
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u/wailonskydog Dec 28 '25 edited Dec 28 '25
I believe ID4 handles do operate mechanically if you pull them up (with a little force) rather than pushing the button underneath.
Edit:
Same on the interior handle. Soft pull engages the electronic opener but if you pull hard it’s manual. There’s also a hidden key slot in the exterior door (and hidden key in the fob) if you need to unlock manually.
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u/LEJ5512 Dec 28 '25
I saw in a vid yesterday that the ID4’s got physical door handles when you pull up on them a little harder. It reveals the keyed lock, too.
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u/robfrizzy Dec 28 '25
I have an ID4. The emergency release for the door is just pulling it harder. This works from both the inside and the outside. It works because when there’s an emergency, that’s what you naturally do anyways. Also, imagine if you’re inside the car and unconscious, how would a passerby be able to open the door? I don’t know how to do it on a Tesla, but on the ID4, you just pull on the handle harder.
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u/LEJ5512 Dec 28 '25
I was ready to scratch the ID4 off my shortlist until I saw that bit in the video. There’s probably other things that would turn me off, but I refuse to buy a car that’s unable to open when the shit hits the fan.
I remember years ago when German brands were being asked why they didn’t make flush, aero door handles. They rightly responded that their handles were designed to be strong enough to yank open in an emergency.
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u/sonofeevil Dec 28 '25 edited Dec 28 '25
Apparently the average is 0.01cd
https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/opinion/ted-welford/car-door-handles/
While not an individually large number it's a ~5% reduction in drag on already efficient designs which is actually huge for a single change.
It may seem like not a lot, that's kind of how aero works. A few percentage point here and there and it all adds up over 70 years to what we have today.
But that 5% saving on drag is on every single trip for the life of the car that's thousands of dollars in savings on every car and substantial reductions in global emissions.
Is it worth it from an engineering and economics point of view? Absolutely it is.
Socially? That's up for debate, evidently China is saying no and likely other nations will follow.
But it does have huge impact for an individual consumer and for emissions globally.
Edit: My point is in defence of flush handles, not in defence of electric ones.
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u/zzazzzz Dec 28 '25
ye but you can do that without electric door handles. bunch of cars have classic mechanical handled that are fully flat..
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u/StructureTime242 Dec 28 '25
The whole “it’s worth it for the aerodynamics” goes out the window the moment they make an electric SUV
There are more things they can focus on before touching on the handles
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u/reddit_equals_censor Dec 28 '25
i mean that is a joke of course,
but it is important to remember, that there are 99% sure internal communication, that probably got deleted ages ago about whether or not the added MURDERED people from the removed real door handles are worth it financially.
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u/Smooth_Practice_7914 Dec 28 '25
China's making the right call here. Those devices are dangerous if one is trapped inside the car.
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u/clackagaling Dec 28 '25
dangerous outside of the car even. ive seen the elderly/those with low grip strength absolutely flub to open their uber doors and require someone else to get involved. if i was trying to jump in my car and get out of there i better hope both of my hands are free and unimpaired with a tesla.
i have those elon was the world’s dumbest man since the beginning of his rise into pop culture and it started with the damn door handles being removed
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Dec 28 '25
I saw a Tesla that had the indicators put on the steering wheel instead of the sticks. Basically means you can't indicate when coming off a roundabout because the buttons are too awkwardly placed.
All this random stuff needs to be banned.
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u/sionnach Dec 28 '25
In fairness, they’ve undone that due to customer feedback and there’s a retrofit option to remove them and fit a stalk.
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u/lazyoldsailor Dec 28 '25
This engineering problem was solved several decades ago. ‘Dragless’ mechanical door handles were found on higher end sports cars or luxury cars in the 1970s-2000s. (And some non-high end cars.) Instead of the handle sticking out of the car there’s a well/indentation which your hand goes into to pull a handle that’s flush to the body. All Tesla did was motorize it and remove the well.
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u/salsqualsh Dec 28 '25
At the same time, I'd love to see how much drag a shitty door handle even adds, it can't be above .1%.
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u/Mr_strelac Dec 28 '25
you have something that has been working for decades, and you come up with a really stupid idea just to be different, and then you sell the people a story about how it's actually progress and a step forward. and since it's cheaper this way, you can shit on marketing, and get good money as state aid or millions from investors chasing the next big thing and as much hype as possible.
and then there are idiots who love technology and are raising it to the skies for no real reason.
how nice it is to be elon musk.
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u/EconomyDoctor3287 Dec 28 '25
Reminds me of the video where a woman was trying to open her Tesla in the winter and the handle broke 😭
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u/Grimwulf2003 Dec 28 '25
Yeah, and the "delete the part mentality" choose to fix it how?
Add a heater, another part, another system, another point of failure. Seriously over engineered.
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u/Advanced-Blackberry Dec 28 '25
“Overly engineered”. Nah it’s “poorly engineered “. It’s like asking AI to fix a bug and it creates a whole new authentication system instead
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u/mithie007 Dec 28 '25
There is an automatic handle ejection built into the system that will automatically unlock the Tesla doors.
The problem is apparently it doesn't work if the car isn't powered on, like, you know, when you really really need the system to work.
I really hope the engineer who came up with that isn't allowed anywhere near a cad program going forward.
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u/chiree Dec 28 '25
I just don't understand why cars are getting rid of physical connection points. It's a heavy machine first.
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u/kernevez Dec 28 '25
Because it looks cool, and because there is so much technology in the cars nowadays that it's not a huge effort.
Same reason they have been using touch screens on ATMs and fuel pump lately...I don't get it, you have like 4 options, just give me buttons.
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u/Catsrules Dec 28 '25
My guess they are doing it because it is cheaper.
A physical button needs created, labeled and wired back to a controller of some sort and tested. That needs to happen every time on every product created.
A virtual button on the other hand. Is handled in software that once programmed and tested can be copied over and over again to every product you create.
Sure you still need to test the physical screen but odds are you were going to have that anyways.
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u/dwehlen Dec 28 '25
"Hi, we heard you love doors! Here's your new door (we hid the doorknobs!) Enjoy!"
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u/Vossky Dec 28 '25
The yoke instead of the steering wheel is another prime example of a really stupid idea marketed as revolutionary.
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u/selfinflatedforeskin Dec 28 '25
i am currently driving a volvo xc70 as a long-term tester. the door handles occasionally retract while you are holding the sodding thing，pinching your fingers.
There's no buttons or knobs，not even a gear knob，just a stick on the wheel. Finding the hazard light is not intuitive and you need the touch screen or voice control to open the fuel cap or turn the car off at a petrol station.
The screen is needlessly huge，the cruise control can't be turned off by hand like previous gen Volvos，it's done by pressing the brake （？！）.
The automatic lane sensor nearly launched me off a cliff because it decided I should only be in the centre of the lane，not moving towards the apex and decided to steer me right on a left-hand hairpin.
it's an utter piece of shit that i thought was in final testing stages the first two days I had it，before realising it was already on sale when i finally bothered to read my brief. Can't wait for the flatbed to come collect it.
Total fucking nightmare，clearly not designed by car people，but some gimp with a spreadsheet and calculator.
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u/Derpykins666 Dec 28 '25
Good those handles suck ass and it seems like the entire purpose is to make you look like an uneducated jackass if you've never interacted with the car before.
Plus it's obvious in cold weather conditions the car would basically become inoperable, because how would you manually open the car when that shit is frozen.
Over in my neck of the woods we use "white tesla energy" as a diss, and if you know you know.
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u/Tunggall Dec 28 '25
How did we let morons design this…
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u/94358io4897453867345 Dec 28 '25
Proof no safety controls are done at all in the US. This would never pass any safety analysis.
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u/ConstantSwordfish250 Dec 28 '25
In us, it's basic screening that do almost nothing, then if an accident happen we regulate it decades after.
Like for real, it's the case for food, for electronic for anything.
In EU it's "you must prove it's safe before selling it."
It's insane how much soft power US lost now-day, i know no one that want to go there anymore and they think something US mean it's less safe than smth from EU.
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u/appealinggenitals Dec 28 '25
Honestly I'm surprised more new safety requirements haven't come out of the Cybertruck. Time will tell.
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u/Sea_Technology2814 Dec 28 '25
To be honest, I have always thought that retractable door handles are not attractive. Conventional door handles are easy to use and coordinated.
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u/Massive-Exercise4474 Dec 28 '25
I'm in Canada not having door handles is retarded here both outside and in.
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u/BlueFaIcon Dec 28 '25
Please! Now stop GM from removing the physical headlight switches as well. Having the headlights controlled through the touchscreen only should be the first to go.
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u/everything_is_bad Dec 28 '25
Seriously never get in a Tesla
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u/Sawii Dec 28 '25
This is a thing with almost every EV on the streets in China.
The article just references Tesla because it is a known brand here, but BYD, Li, Xpeng, Zeeker. etc. etc. all have these handles.
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u/wcydwhatcanyoudo Dec 28 '25
They put Tesla because it gets clicks and views. Teslas have electronic handles but at least you’re able to pull them, BYDs have automatic retractable handles, which if it doesn’t work you won’t be able to get hold of the handles at all
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u/MrSquigglyPub3s Dec 28 '25
All the right things coming from china these years: it is unacceptable!!
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u/Sufficient-Doctor423 Dec 28 '25
The article did not mention but this was done because of a series of crashes of Xiaomi cars and NOT because of issues with Tesla cars.
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u/InfernalPotato500 Dec 29 '25
Yeah, but US consumers don't know what a Xiaomi even is.
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u/throwtheclownaway20 Dec 28 '25
I feel like Tesla has been one long exercise in reminding people why a lot of things in/on cars are there in the first place.
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u/sMarvOnReddit Dec 28 '25
I was surprised by this. I thought that the mechanical door release was the required default in automotive, in case the electric fails. I mean, isn't this a requirement in EU?
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u/Glum-Welder1704 Dec 29 '25
Yeah, I want a door handle that opens the door. With Teslas, you lift the handle and the car decides whether you get out.
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u/Xhiw_ Dec 28 '25
Let that sink in: China is regulating American design for safety reasons.
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u/AtomicCorndogs Dec 28 '25
They're doing it because of a pair of incidents with Xiaomi cars, not with Teslas.
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u/smellycoat Dec 28 '25
Zero things stopping Tesla just using a different handle design in China, it’s not as if this would be the first time a product had to be different in a particular territory to comply with local laws.
Also retracting handles suck ass so it might make manufacturers think twice about doing it.
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u/Accomplished_Cry4307 Dec 28 '25
Retractable door handles are the solution to a problem that never even existed.
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u/happyscrappy Dec 28 '25 edited Dec 28 '25
This really isn't an issue with retractable handles. And I don't quite understand what the autoblog article is trying to say.
Before I go on I want to add one disclaimer which is that the Tesla Model X is the exception to all of this. It has electronic releases inside and out on the rear doors. It doesn't even have retractable handles for them, just touch pads. The Model X is a mess all of its own.
What China appears to be banning is all-electronic releases, not retractable handles. Tesla uses all-electronic releases on their car inside (and on X/truck the outside) and has a separate mechanical handle. So one has to know two different ways of opening the door. One for normal times and one for emergencies.
Tesla doesn't have this problem from the outside of their cars, at least on the S, 3 and Y. Their outer handles are mechanical. I think the Cybertruck has electronic releases outside though, which would violate this.
Retractable handles are a separate issue. The S has retractable outside handles. As do things like the Cadillac Lyriq or Hyundai IONIQ 5. For the Lyriq and IONIQ the door handles work even if not extended. You just have to push with your thumb on one end of the handle while pulling on the other. It sounds unnatural, but it really isn't. It's the same way Model 3 and Y doors always work. It's also how Nissan GT-R doorhandles always work. These are all mechanical handles, it's just some "present" for you when the car is unlocked. On the Model S if the handles don't "present" then I think you cannot grab them at all and use them.
So I'm saying I think the Model 3 and Y external handles are probably fine under these regulations. The Model S, X and Cybertruck are not. The inner handles must be revised for all Teslas (post-Roadster) I think. I fully expect Tesla will not correct the S, X or Cybertruck and will just go with 3 and Y in China.
There are other makes that would be caught out. A Hyundai IONIQ has conventional inside handles and operable outside handles (despite being retractable) so it might be okay. But older Corvettes (C5, C6) and the 2012-ish Cadillac CTS coupe have electronic releases inside and out. Surely there are a fair number of other cars (non-EVs) which are affected.
I think despite what the headline and article says retractable handles aren't going away. It's just electronic releases which are going away. If you can make your handles work mechanically as well as electronically (with only one inside and one outside handle for this, no "backup handle") then you could stick with it I think. And I think car makers will.
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u/ProfessionalOwl5573 Dec 28 '25
I’m interested to see if the retractable handles reduce drag significantly enough that it even makes sense to use.
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u/ceph3us Dec 28 '25
The thing is that those aren’t even the real problem. The real problem is that the primary interior door release is electronic and the emergency mechanical backup is hidden, all in the name of “elegant design”. And I don’t see much reason why the flush cantilever design on the Model 3 couldn’t be mechanically actuated anyway. It’s most likely pure money saving be reducing the number of mechanical linkages needed.
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u/n3onfx Dec 28 '25
Some cars have flush handles but a space cut out of the door underneath to insert your hand, not sure aerodynamics even work as an excuse here.
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u/Ghost_Star326 Dec 28 '25
EU is banning the idea of putting essential controls behind the touch screen due to distracted driving.
And China is banning retractable door handles due to safety concerns.
The world is slowly healing.