Flush door handles aren’t bad but they can be badly designed. The ones in the video are badly designed. The ones on the equinox ev for example are good because you can still fill them out pretty easily
Not 100% flush since there's a little pocket behind the handle (some cars had the pocket below the handle) to fit your fingers into, but the aerodynamic difference is probably nill because of turbulent boundary layer flow; needs no electrical motors to present itself, but I think the motorization is half the reason for flush handles in the first place - they're basically a "neat trick" for the owner.
*edit:
However, AMC's most enduring styling feature debuted on the Ambassador for 1968, as flush-mounted paddle-style door handles replaced the former push-button units on all American Motors cars, save the Rambler American. The practical and "disarmingly simple design" predated safety-related mandates and industry norms. The interior locking was no longer by the traditional windowsill pushbutton, but a lever set into the armrest.
Jaguar put them on their cars starting in 1980. Their stated reasoning was that the previous push button door handles would damage women’s long finger nails. That had been largely irrelevant for Jaguars clientele in previous eras because women riding in Jaguars didn’t open doors for themselves.
Ioniq 5 too, I noticed that it's still a mechanical handle, just with a motor to push it out when unlocked. Not a bad design really, from what I could tell on my brief test drive you can easily push the handle out manually and the interior handle is completely mechanical so it all makes sense.
I guess I'm just not wowed by powered gimmicks but like the video says - some buyers in some markets just gotta have it. I like how both my current vehicles combine modern EV power with regular PRNDLs, handles, locks and turn signals really, what a great concept.
Door handles are one of those engineering problems with a lot of constraints and a lot of prior art. They need to:
Fit the human hand. All sizes and shapes of hand, hands with gloves, hands with varying numbers of fingers, etc. Be positioned on the car in a reasonable way, not have sharp edges. If a human can’t operate the door handle then it is useless.
Be safe and reliable. Robust mechanisms, retain function when crashed, will withstand half a million cycles, consistent and predictable and fast. Hold up to weather, ice, water, heat, cold. Those sorts of things.
Be aerodynamic and light. Small percent gains matter on cars these days as the shapes we use get more and more refined. EVs are heavy but efficiency is important to them still.
Have aesthetic properties. Integrate with the car’s design language, be pleasing to look at and to touch.
There are more than a few door handles today that fail pretty high on this list. That’s super embarrassing, it means that somebody who gets paid too much money put form over function in an egregious way.
I think there’s some merit to the idea of the car not opening the door when it thinks things are unsafe. However, if it makes the door worse in fundamental everyday ways then it isn’t worthwhile. If the door is making decisions it needs a lot of layers of design and engineering. Does it fail safe, how do you override in a panic, what does disclosure of the no-open condition look like? Does the door feel 100% predictable and snappy still? I don’t think anybody has nailed this yet.
Have you seen the door handle on an E-type? It takes two hands to open because it’s too small to get your fingers under for leverage to operate the push button. So you grab the tiny handle with your thumb and forefinger and push the button with the other hand.
Probably helps, but I sort of don't think the net contribution of flush door handles will make a super noticeable difference for most cars efficiencies.
I can't remember the youtube channel, but they were interviewing Hyundai engineers that outright said it was for aesthetics only. No detectable gains in aero.
Aerodynamics is negligible when its on either a boxy suv or any vehicle with side view mirrors. Its also a hindrance in places where it gets super cold winters. The overall fuel/energy savings are negligible
Like alot of the bad design choices the last 10y this one is another example for the strange market effects of China on the automotive market. Others are screens, screens and more screens for example.
Flush door handles aren’t bad but they can be badly designed. The ones in the video are badly designed. The ones on the equinox ev for example are good because you can still fill them out pretty easily
I enjoy how may car does it, it's flush but like the 80s style of flush, so doesn't need motors and stuff to extend out like in many other cars.
First flush door handles I ran into were on an ‘80s Subaru XT Coupe and those had a low tech spring loaded panel to make them flush.
They looked great but did have the side effect of forming a very comfortable spider cubby though.
They could also pinch, especially in the corners, if I remember right.
I don't know who was first but here is a 1970 Gremlin
Those are close but don’t cover the entire area like the XT.
Not claiming the XT was first, btw, it’s just one I remember from childhood.
I had a friend in high school who had one of those. What a fun first car! Back seat kind cramped tho.
https://importarchive.com/brochure/subaruxt1991_01
When I was kid my best friend’s dad had one so I got a few rides in it. The asymmetric steering wheel is memorable from that funky car, too.
There were flush handles at least by 1970.
Not 100% flush since there's a little pocket behind the handle (some cars had the pocket below the handle) to fit your fingers into, but the aerodynamic difference is probably nill because of turbulent boundary layer flow; needs no electrical motors to present itself, but I think the motorization is half the reason for flush handles in the first place - they're basically a "neat trick" for the owner.
*edit:
Jaguar put them on their cars starting in 1980. Their stated reasoning was that the previous push button door handles would damage women’s long finger nails. That had been largely irrelevant for Jaguars clientele in previous eras because women riding in Jaguars didn’t open doors for themselves.
Ioniq 5 too, I noticed that it's still a mechanical handle, just with a motor to push it out when unlocked. Not a bad design really, from what I could tell on my brief test drive you can easily push the handle out manually and the interior handle is completely mechanical so it all makes sense.
I guess I'm just not wowed by powered gimmicks but like the video says - some buyers in some markets just gotta have it. I like how both my current vehicles combine modern EV power with regular PRNDLs, handles, locks and turn signals really, what a great concept.
Door handles are one of those engineering problems with a lot of constraints and a lot of prior art. They need to:
There are more than a few door handles today that fail pretty high on this list. That’s super embarrassing, it means that somebody who gets paid too much money put form over function in an egregious way.
I think there’s some merit to the idea of the car not opening the door when it thinks things are unsafe. However, if it makes the door worse in fundamental everyday ways then it isn’t worthwhile. If the door is making decisions it needs a lot of layers of design and engineering. Does it fail safe, how do you override in a panic, what does disclosure of the no-open condition look like? Does the door feel 100% predictable and snappy still? I don’t think anybody has nailed this yet.
Have you seen the door handle on an E-type? It takes two hands to open because it’s too small to get your fingers under for leverage to operate the push button. So you grab the tiny handle with your thumb and forefinger and push the button with the other hand.
I thought they were for aerodynamics?
Probably helps, but I sort of don't think the net contribution of flush door handles will make a super noticeable difference for most cars efficiencies.
I can't remember the youtube channel, but they were interviewing Hyundai engineers that outright said it was for aesthetics only. No detectable gains in aero.
I thought I saw somewhere at some point that electric cars were doing it to eek out every bit of range they could, but I don’t remember where.
It decreases the drag coefficient by 0.01 according to this article by Ars Technica.
Aerodynamics is negligible when its on either a boxy suv or any vehicle with side view mirrors. Its also a hindrance in places where it gets super cold winters. The overall fuel/energy savings are negligible
Flush door handles suck when you live anywhere cold.
I'm not getting any sound
Sometimes Imgur mutes a video to start with. Check for the Unmute button.
In 4k, full screen, full length..... let's go!!
Like alot of the bad design choices the last 10y this one is another example for the strange market effects of China on the automotive market. Others are screens, screens and more screens for example.
IIRC it started with Tesla and their market started demanding those features as it's an obvious flashy feature as a status symbol
I read that thinking of a toilet flush 🚽
I would love some credible sources rather than a handsome man telling me stories.