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Man Gets “Trapped” In Hot Tesla After Battery Dies As He Wasn’t Aware Of Manual Release
(www.carscoops.com)
this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2023
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On the outside, the door handles of a Tesla automatically recess when not in use, which reduces drag on the car and let's it drive more efficiently (therefore giving you more range).
Tesla does a lot of "reinventing for the sake of it" but in this one instance there is actually a reason for it.
The door handle in question is on the inside of the car. It doesn't serve any engineering reason to be resigned other than for aesthetics.
Genuinely curious, how much savings does that accomplish? Something as small as a door handle doesn't seem like it would create a lot of drag, but it might just be unintuitive
It's bullshit. They'd save 1000x more in range if they fixed the shitty gaps in their paneling instead of doing away with door handles.
Just because it's new doesn't mean it's better. Reinventing door handles is something no car needs.
I seriously doubt it changes much.
Hypermiling is a thing where people try to get 100 mpg from a compact car like the Honda Civic. It's been around for a few decades now.
There are things you can do to improve aerodynamic abilities of the car. The biggest is the wheel shrouds and overall car shape (nose and tail). Then you're covering up seams in the body work. I've not heard of anyone swapping out or door handles.
I'm sure the cause drag, but there is so much lower hanging fruit to address before changing something that small.
I honestly don't 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?
It's definitely not just aesthetics, but the impact is up for debate. Tesla aren't the only EV manufacturer doing it.
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 couldn't 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, don't you think there must be more than a "negligible" impact?
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180105005468/en/Top-3-Drivers-of-the-Global-Automotive-Retractable-Door-Handle-System-Market-Technavio
If there is no data, how do you know it ISN'T 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.
Fair enough!
Wikipedia article concerning drag coefficients
The drag coefficients of even the more recent Teslas are comparable to other vehicles that don't use retracting door handles, even the GM EV1 from 1999 beats all the Teslas on the table in terms of drag reduction. The door handles may technically be a contributing factor towards their more favorable position on the list, but they're certainly not necessary and don't seem to be highly impactful. A large part of Tesla design philosophy and marketing is making their cars seem futuristic and highly advanced through things like motorized door handles and autopilot. Their primary goal is to provide a unique and pleasant user experience "out of the box" and their justification for things like the door handles retracting are almost certainly retroactive.