From the article:
The man is blaming the automaker even though the manual door opener was under his left hand the whole time.
A man in Arizona says that he was recently trapped in his Tesla after getting in, closing the door, and then realizing that his battery was dead. What he didnāt know is that the manual release for the door was under his left hand the whole time. Now, heās blaming the automaker and raising awareness.
Rick Meggison, 73, says that Tesla needs to address what he calls a āsafety concernā involving how to exit the car when the battery dies. The main door latch actuator on all Tesla models is electronic so if the 12-volt battery dies it wonāt work. To ensure safe exit of the vehicle Tesla includes a manual release. Meggison didnāt know about that and ended up trapped in his car for 20 minutes on a hot day.
āI couldnāt open the doors. I couldnāt lower the windows. The computer was dead, so I couldnāt open the glove box. I couldnāt open anything,ā he told ABC7. Of course, he couldāve opened the door in about two seconds had he known that the manual release was just ahead of his window switches. His situation has many wondering whoās to blame in situations like this.
I honestly donāt know, there does seem to be some controversy around this but Tesla seems determined to want flush handles so there must be something to it.
So, it might just be aesthetics then?
Itās definitely not just aesthetics, but the impact is up for debate. Tesla arenāt the only EV manufacturer doing it.
If there is no data, how do you know it ISNāT just for aesthetics? It certainly seems that way.
Well, I did some googling and found this:
Source: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180105005468/en/Top-3-Drivers-of-the-Global-Automotive-Retractable-Door-Handle-System-Market-Technavio
Seems like there is indeed plenty of data.
The impact on drag at normal highway speeds is negligible, there is no debate. It is entirely for cool factor points. Nothing accomplished by retractable handles couldnāt be done better, cheaper, and with fewer moving parts with a standard handle.
errr, yeah there is debate. Given that nearly every EV manufacturer is doing their darnedest to flatten or remove door handles, donāt you think there must be more than a ānegligibleā impact?
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180105005468/en/Top-3-Drivers-of-the-Global-Automotive-Retractable-Door-Handle-System-Market-Technavio