Nice vision that doesn't play well in the real world. My first thought is of my 6 year old trying to get his dog out of the car. My second is of other people helping the occupants out after an accident - I'm sure there are lots of safety regulations about this too.
My experience is that Children are a lot smarter than most adults give them credit for... That's why a 2-year-old can use an iPad better than their Grandparents these days. I'd rather Tesla Motors continue to design for
'The FUTURE'... Rather than creating something that is 'simple' for someone who is buying their 12th car, their interests would be better served by fulfilling the needs of those who won't buy their first car until 2029 or 2030, today.
Even if power handles or doors are affordable at the $35k price point, Tesla may choose not to include them to help differentiate the M3 from its high margin big brothers that I'm sure they want (if not need) to keep selling.
All that is necessary is that they differentiate Model ☰ from its contemporaries: Acura TLX, AUDI A4, BMW 3-Series, Cadillac ATS, Infiniti Q50, Jaguar XE, Lexus IS, Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Trust that if demand for Model ☰ is so high that Fremont cannot manage to build any of the Model S or Model X from October 1, 2017 forward, and find they must build a new facility instead, no one at Tesla Motors will be crying in their champagne. Please note that
Generation III vehicles are the GOAL for the company, not some afterthought.
Funny that in the late 1940s and 1950s - car customizers would shave off protruding elements, like door handles and replace the handles with flush buttons (solenoids). And these pretty much worked all the time.
Exactly. Throughout the Southern California low-rider customized car scene, shaved door handles and locks for door panels and trunk are pretty much standard design features, along with slimmed down or absent exterior mirrors, adjustable suspension height, chopped roofs, etc. I've seen these types of features celebrated at car shows and in magazines going back decades to when I was a teenager. The closest that traditional automobile manufacturers have come to such innovations is body colored door handles, or handles that were all black and molded into the all black mullions at the framed windows.
The front doors on the Model X also have no handles and the doors pop open. Automatic closing could be a premium package on the Model 3, but popping open doesn't take much and is cheep in parts
Another very well made point that is often overlooked. Thank you.