China is banning hidden door handles on all cars sold in the country, becoming the first country in the world to target the feature – which was popularized by Tesla but has for years drawn concern over safety risks.
The feature has previously come under heavy scrutiny, both in China and elsewhere.
Last September, Tesla said it was looking into redesigning the way to open its car doors in an emergency, after several accidents where passengers were reportedly killed or severely injured in burning vehicles because rescuers could not open them.
Other Tesla owners have reported having to break their own car windows after buckling their children in and then being unable to get in the car again, according to an investigation by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
An investigation by Bloomberg found 140 incidents of people being trapped in their Teslas due to problems with the door handles, including several that resulted in horrific injuries.
In 14 years, Tesla could not change the Model S door handles? Cd should matter on any car, but Tesla low Cds are mainly dictated by not needing cooling radiators and airflow to reduce ICE heat.
The handles were designed to look cool for techno fetish buyers. Period. The Cybertruck also has no door handles, as if they cared about Cd.
Man, Americans just love to be educated by ad agencies.
Well firstly the Model S hasn’t had a facelift in 7 years. Things like this are usually done with at least a minor redesign
Secondly the way to get industry leading Cd (at the time) is to first do the big changes and then follow up with the small ones.
Looking cool can also be a reason. There can be multiple reasons to do something. If you achieve extra efficiency AND get to look cooler to your target audience, that’s a jackpot, isn’t it…
Not sure what your love to be educated by ad agencies has anything to do with here, American.