5 ms·

I've never understood this "flush door handle" trend. How many miles of EV range does that add ? Is it worth the reduced reliability?

pornel 3y ago
Think of overall energy expenditure as a pie chart. In ICE car a large chunk of that pie chart is heat waste. If you delete that chunk, everything else becomes relatively more important. In EVs there's very little power loss in the drivetrain itself, so other external factors like rolling resistance and aero drag become the major factors.
- kumarvvr 3y ago
  Wouldn't the added weight & extra energy use of the actuation mechanism, cables and control system be more than the energy saved from aerodynamic losses?
  - SamBam 3y ago
    You could go ask all the engineers if they got it wrong.
    - kumarvvr 3y ago
      Yeah, it could very well be possible because the engineers could have concluded that this consumes more energy than it saves, but marketers insisted it be there because they are selling a luxury car to rich customers. You seem to imply that the engineers only approve something for technical reasons. Sometimes, they have to incorporate something for purely non-technical / efficiency reasons.
  - ferongr 3y ago
    No. The energy use is comparatively miniscule and weight (to a point) doesn't really matter for high speed, highway driving efficiency.
hoosieree 3y ago
As a teenager I read a story about someone who shaved the door handles on their car[1], then proceeded to shut their keys in with the motor running. [1]: "Shaved" handles means there is no handle at all on the outside. You install a solenoid to electronically pop the door open instead of using a handle.
Gigachad 3y ago
It’s not about range. It’s because it looks cool.
- fomine3 3y ago
  and maybe noise
- seydor 3y ago
  Looks like a can opener to me https://teslassories.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/door_handle.jpg https://teslassories.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/door_hand... You know what looks cool? No handle at all In fact, why even have doors
  - toast0 3y ago
    > In fact, why even have doors Have you considered a Jeep Wrangler or a Ford Bronco? I see lots of those without doors.

pornel 3y ago

Think of overall energy expenditure as a pie chart. In ICE car a large chunk of that pie chart is heat waste. If you delete that chunk, everything else becomes relatively more important. In EVs there's very little power loss in the drivetrain itself, so other external factors like rolling resistance and aero drag become the major factors.

kumarvvr 3y ago
Wouldn't the added weight & extra energy use of the actuation mechanism, cables and control system be more than the energy saved from aerodynamic losses?
- SamBam 3y ago
  You could go ask all the engineers if they got it wrong.
  - kumarvvr 3y ago
    Yeah, it could very well be possible because the engineers could have concluded that this consumes more energy than it saves, but marketers insisted it be there because they are selling a luxury car to rich customers. You seem to imply that the engineers only approve something for technical reasons. Sometimes, they have to incorporate something for purely non-technical / efficiency reasons.
- ferongr 3y ago
  No. The energy use is comparatively miniscule and weight (to a point) doesn't really matter for high speed, highway driving efficiency.

hoosieree 3y ago

As a teenager I read a story about someone who shaved the door handles on their car[1], then proceeded to shut their keys in with the motor running. [1]: "Shaved" handles means there is no handle at all on the outside. You install a solenoid to electronically pop the door open instead of using a handle.

Gigachad 3y ago

It’s not about range. It’s because it looks cool.

fomine3 3y ago
and maybe noise
seydor 3y ago
Looks like a can opener to me https://teslassories.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/door_handle.jpg https://teslassories.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/door_hand... You know what looks cool? No handle at all In fact, why even have doors
- toast0 3y ago
  > In fact, why even have doors Have you considered a Jeep Wrangler or a Ford Bronco? I see lots of those without doors.