[bishopts]

Originally Posted by Martinjlm

Just a bit of "history" on this. Didja ever notice that dating back to the '70s practically every concept vehicle displayed had no door handles and many had cameras instead of mirrors? That is because automakers liked to brag about how aerodynamic their concept vehicles were, even though they knew they could never get vehicles into production without door handles and mirrors. Turns out door handles and mirrors add significant drag for the vehicle.

Then we started getting more clever ways of integrating the door handles. Corvette is a great example. Since C6 you actually reach into a pocket to activate the door handles and open the vehicle. Other companies put them on the B-pillar and/or C-pillar. And they started focusing on design of mirror covers to minimize drag effects. Corvette is another excellent example. The passenger side mirror is actually placed further away from the car than the driver's side mirror, purely to reduce drag.

Now, add EVs to the mix. Since most EVs have a single gear transmission, the single biggest impact to range is aerodynamics. And, front end design aside, the biggest contributor to drag is the door handles. So making them flush while the car is moving is a big deal. It also happens to contribute to a clean styling look, but the real reason is aero.

Not defending, just explaining "why".

I like the part where the electronic handles fail while the car is on fire.