What do you think of the door handles?

[RobStark]

No. If the requirement is for flush door handles there are numerous other less complicated and easier to use designs Tesla could have chosen.

Show us examples of less complicated AND easier to use flush door handles.

 

[RobStark]

I like the Model S handles better, but I think these are a very cool design and nicely engineered. Not a deal breaker.

Model S door handles cost ~$550 to replace.

Not acceptable in a $35k car.

 

[WileyTheMan]

Overly complicated and difficult to use. Engineering for engineering’s sake.

Don't know that I agree. They wanted to keep the handle flush with the door and make it as mechanically simple/inexpensive as possible. Not many other directions they could have gone in order to achieve these goals.

 

[Thomas Edison]

Model S door handles cost ~$550 to replace.

Not acceptable in a $35k car.

Well they are motorized, so that probably doubles the price (at least) over the 3.

 

[RobStark]

Well they are motorized, so that probably doubles the price (at least) over the 3.

Obviously, that is why motorized handles are on the S and why simple mechanical ones are on the 3.

 

[Carnook]

Show us examples of less complicated AND easier to use flush door handles.

Jaguar, Land Rover, Range Rover and Lexus all come to mind. They use flush door handles with simpler mechanisms that can be operated with either hand in a single motion.

The Model 3 door handles are unnecessarily complicated.

 

[RobStark]

Jaguar, Land Rover, Range Rover and Lexus all come to mind. They use flush door handles with simpler mechanisms that can be operated with either hand in a single motion.

The Model 3 door handles are unnecessarily complicated.

None of those meet all the criteria.

And it can't get any simpler than a lever on a swivel.

 

[Jason S]

I'm not sure we're using the same definition of "flush" if you say that Lexus, etc., has flush door handles.

 

[WarpedOne]

LC hybrid:

 

[Jason S]

LC hybrid:

Neat! How does that work? More or less complicated than the 3?

 

[RobStark]

Neat! How does that work? More or less complicated than the 3?

Motorized. I bet at least $550 to replace.

Model S more elegant and easier to use.

 

[Jason S]

Motorized. I bet at least $550 to replace.

Model S more elegant and easier to use.

Ah, so that's similar to the Model S door handles - extend when unlocked, retract when locked. I like the body color though.

 

[Carnook]

None of those meet all the criteria.

And it can't get any simpler than a lever on a swivel.

They meet all the criteria and are superior in form and function to the Model 3 handles. Most notably when someone walks up to the car they can pull the door handle and the door opens. Imagine that.

 

[stopcrazypp]

They meet all the criteria and are superior in form and function to the Model 3 handles. Most notably when someone walks up to the car they can pull the door handle and the door opens. Imagine that.

It's pretty much exactly the same principle as the Model 3's except motorized (thus easier to break and more expensive to replace; also more "complicated"/complex in many people's books).

I though you were talking about a different design that was purely mechanical (all of the ones I found were push to pop open similar to model 3). I don't think it is reasonable to expect a $35k car to have motorized handles.

 

[insaneoctane]

I wonder if just adding a damper that made the handle close more slowly would have been prudent (think like the coat hangers)?

 

[SMAlset]

Was in Palo Alto Stanford to see the Model 3 in person and I knew ahead of time to push one end with the thumb and grab the pushed out door handle part with my other fingers. Really seemed like second nature so I'd rate these a 10. Have an S and while I love the door handles to present by touch they don't always work on our passenger side. Seems intermittent and still not sure if sometimes I'm doing something wrong or not.

 

[Mike K]

I'm not a fan but they're not a deal breaker. They are cumbersome to use. More than that, I find the omission of a power liftgate to be borderline unforgivable on a $56,000 car with the "premium options" package. And I know it's coming but I'd like to buy the car now instead of waiting.

 

[kbecks13]

The handles are really fine, most of the time i don't even grab the lever portion of the handle and just press with my thumb and then grab the door to open it. I can't think of another flush mounted, non-motorized design that would be significantly better/more visually pleasing.

 

[EV-lutioin]

It wouldn't be a Tesla if you didn't have to give your passengers a tutorial on how to open the doors.

 

[EV-lutioin]

I'm not a fan but they're not a deal breaker. They are cumbersome to use. More than that, I find the omission of a power liftgate to be borderline unforgivable on a $56,000 car with the "premium options" package. And I know it's coming but I'd like to buy the car now instead of waiting.