Flush door handles are the car industry's latest safety problem

"It seems that Chinese authorities have been concerned about retractable door handles for some time now and are reportedly close to banning them from 2027. Flush-fit door handles fail far more often during side impacts than regular handles, delaying egress or rescue time after a crash. During heavy rain, flush-fit door handles have short-circuited, trapping people in their cars. Chinese consumers have even reported an increase in finger injuries as they get trapped or pinched."

"That's plenty of safety risk, but what about the benefit to vehicle efficiency? As it turns out, it doesn't actually help that much. Adding flush door handles cuts the drag coefficient (Cd) by around 0.01. You really need to know a car's frontal area as well as its Cd, but this equates to perhaps a little more than a mile of EPA range, perhaps two under Europe's WLTP scheme."

"If automakers were that serious about drag reduction, we'd see many more EVs riding on smaller wheels. The rotation of the wheels and tires is one of the greatest contributors to drag, yet the stylists' love of huge wheels means most EVs you'll find on the front lot of a dealership will struggle to match their official efficiency numbers (not to mention suffering from a worse ride)."

Chinese authorities are reportedly close to banning retractable flush-fit door handles from 2027 because of safety concerns. Flush-fit handles fail more often in side impacts, delaying egress or rescue after a crash, and have short-circuited in heavy rain, trapping occupants. Consumers have reported increased finger injuries from trapped or pinched fingers. The aerodynamic benefit of flush handles is minimal, reducing drag coefficient by about 0.01 and adding roughly one to two miles of range depending on measurement. Wheel and tire rotation contribute far more to drag, and a China ban would reduce future prevalence of flush handles on EVs.

Read at Ars Technica