Flush-fitting hidden door handles have migrated en masse from concept cars to production vehicles thanks to electric vehicle designers seeking to maximise aerodynamic efficiency and improve range, as well as give their cars a bit of extra showroom pizzazz.
However, in an interview with Deutsche Welle, Thomas Schäfer, head of the Volkswagen brand, said flush door handles are “nice” to look at, “but they are terrible to operate”.
After suffering considerable negative feedback for some of its design decisions, most notably capacitive buttons and sliders in place of traditional buttons, the Volkswagen brand boss said the company’s job is to “give the people what they are asking for”, and having “proper door handles” on future vehicles is part of that.
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Mr Schäfer noted the some of these trends were in large part driven by China, where the market is “more playful” as the average new car customer is a “lot younger … in the early 20s”, compared to Europe and the US where the average age is in the high 40s and early 50s.
The Volkswagen CEO’s desire to eliminate flush door handles may spread quickly across the industry.
An anonymous source working in a local automaker’s R&D department has told Mingjing Pro, Chinese regulators are contemplating a ban on flush-fitting door handles on new cars from July 2027 due to safety concerns.
The potential ban would include both fully concealed mechanical lever-type handles, and electronic retractable units. Semi-concealed and traditional style door handles would be permitted so long as they have mechanical redundancy.
A study cited by the Chinese publication says flush-fitting door handles reduce the coefficient of drag (Cd) by 0.005 to 0.01, much less than the 0.03 number cited by some automakers.
For reference, the three most aerodynamically efficient cars on sale today — the Mercedes-Benz EQS, Lucid Air, and Xiaomi SU7 — have a Cd of around 0.2, while the Toyota Corolla has a Cd of 0.31.
Mingjing Pro also claims electronic door handles cost three times as much to produce. They also have a failure rate eight times higher than mechanical units, which can be annoying, as well as a safety hazard.
In one high profile case a frozen electric door handle trapped passengers inside their car, while torrential storms in Guangdong short-circuited door handles on some vehicles, forcing passengers to break their car windows to escape.
There are also reportedly several instances in China where door handles failed to pop out after an accident, hampering rescue efforts and leading to fatalities.
Do you love flush-fitting hidden door handles, or hate them? Let us know in the comments section below.
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