6d ago

China’s auto regulators eye ban on retractable door handles, report says

carnewschina.com

China's auto regulators eye ban on retractable door handles, report says

35 comments

I want physical handles, buttons and knobs.
- So tired of big screens in vehicles, and fewer buttons
  
  I love screens as long as there's still physical buttons. My current car has a nice big screen for Android Auto and gps but still has full buttons for climate and audio.
- Retractable handles are still physical. The ioniq 5 is a good example. It just tucks in flush when the car is driving or locked
  
  It just seems like a hazard to me. If there's a malfunction or fire or something, and it doesn't work, wtf would happen. Seems just like a bad idea in general, for very little gain, if any.
- Yep. Sometimes it's better to just use the old way.
citing safety hazards and functional deficiencies
"Functional deficiencies"? As in, under Chinese law, they can ban products just because they suck?
Damn, we need some of that here in Canada.
- I feel like feature that can trap you inside your car if it fails is a little worse than one that just 'sucks'
  North American car manufacturers have been getting a little too loose with their R&D testing recently - a little regulation would definitely be welcome
My two cents (and, no, I've not read the article): things like retractable door handles are fine if they're designed to function completely standalone with no power, etc. Like, having a door handle that's flush with the body looks great and is one less thing to cause noise in a quiet car, but I don't see why it couldn't be completely mechanical and self-contained. The issue is that every little fucking thing has to be motorised and controlled through a touch panel, an app, or some utterly inscrutable "AI" without opt-out.
- Now you can opt in to having door handles for just $5.99 per month.
Interesting design from the 80's I found:
https://youtu.be/V-QudmjSPnY
He demonstrates the flush handle at about 3:50.
I'm curious what the failure rate of these were, but I'm guessing they can't be too terrible if folks are still using the same car some 40 years later.
What I like about it is that you don't have to worry about a spider being under it.
- don't have to worry about a spider being under it.
  Is this a common problem?
  
  The worry is the common problem, not the actual spiders.
  
  I see visible spider webs on a lot of cars in my neighbourhood, so I imagine there would also be plenty of non-visible webs behind those handles. My parents live in a different area that doesn't have as many bugs and spider webs on cars are rare there.
- I almost bought one of these Subaru's used in 1995 but I went with a Hyundai Excel. The Excel got me across the country a few times and its final straw was the fuel filter and the bolt that holds the shift knob in place. But I drove that car across the country multiple times and it was reliable until the end.
  The fuel filter was halfway down the engine block next to the firewall, I just couldn't do it myself and I had the funds for a new car so I said goodbye to that old workhorse. I always wondered if the Subaru would have done better...

35 comments