The hidden door handles have disappeared, but the automakers' anxiety about showing off their skills still remains.

After struggling with hidden door handles for years, new energy vehicle owners are finally about to bid them farewell completely.

Looking back at business history, it seems rare for a product's advertised selling points to eventually become pain points for users, yet new energy vehicles have achieved this. Moreover, these pain points sometimes cause users to pay a heavy price in terms of money and even lives.

On September 24th, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released a draft for soliciting opinions on the "Safety Technical Requirements for Automobile Door Handles," clearly banning fully hidden exterior door handles. One week before the release of the draft, Tesla's design director announced externally that Tesla is redesigning its controversial door handle system to allow passengers to operate the doors more intuitively in emergencies.

Tesla's concession this time is out of survival considerations. Since 2018, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received over 140 complaints about Tesla door malfunctions. In China, according to official statistics, traffic accidents caused by door handle malfunctions increased by 47% year-on-year in 2024, with hidden door handles accounting for as high as 82%. Safety complaints and regulatory pressure have directly promoted a major industry overhaul in automobile design.

The hidden door handle is just the beginning. On October 7th, Tesla voluntarily removed the iconic panoramic sunroof from its newly released "affordable" Model Y and Model 3, while keeping the intelligent configurations intact.

It's obvious which features are "useless" from the choices made by enterprises.

After entering the Chinese market in 2013, Tesla redefined intelligence and new energy. From hidden door handles to panoramic sunroofs and the absence of physical buttons, more and more car - making enterprises are emulating Tesla, similar to the mobile phone industry in the past few years. Due to the lack of innovation, mobile phone manufacturers have resorted to competing in camera configurations and imaging parameters, falling into the misunderstanding of prioritizing showy features.

For new energy vehicle enterprises, this bottleneck period has come too early. When the sense of technology deviates from safety and human - friendliness, it means that automobile design is falling into a dilemma where form outweighs function.

Why do anti - human designs in new energy vehicles keep emerging?

From a positive perspective, hidden door handles are not completely useless. This exterior design originating from aerodynamics was hailed as a perfect combination of aesthetics and aerodynamics at its inception. The smooth design can indeed reduce the wind resistance coefficient during driving, although it has little effect on improving the electric vehicle's range.

Actually, in the past two years, many car - making enterprises have started to return to the "traditional" approach. Models like the BYD Seal and the AITO M8 use semi - hidden door handles, and each handle is equipped with a physical unlocking controller to ensure that the doors can still be opened using the mechanical structure even when the whole vehicle loses power.

The official website of AITO M8 introduces the safety of semi - hidden door handles

Not only high - end models, but also affordable cars priced under 100,000 yuan are addressing this design flaw in their own way. The Baojun Yunhai under SAIC - GM - Wuling emphasizes in its promotion that its new model has chosen practical non - hidden door handles, which combine convenience and a sense of ceremony, truly "returning to the origin."

Source: Baojun Automobile's official WeChat account

Actually, before the emergence of new energy vehicles, traditional car - making enterprises had many excellent design cases that combined aesthetics and safety. The classic door handle of the Porsche 911 reduces wind resistance while ensuring quick opening. The Mercedes - Benz 300SL Gullwing launched in 1954 adopted upward - opening doors and a long engine hood, boldly and perfectly solving engineering limitations.

Mercedes - Benz 300SL Gullwing

Although traditional car - making enterprises have fallen behind in the new energy era, these classic designs still resonate with people.

Tesla has changed all this. Just as the Apple iPhone series redefined mobile phones when it first appeared, Tesla has redefined new energy vehicles and rewritten the automotive industry.

Tesla's pursuit of minimalist design aesthetics and driving experience has obviously led the automotive industry. However, when netizens complain about the "ten sins of new energy vehicle design," they also find that more than half of these designs were initiated by Tesla.

For example, the large screen and the absence of physical buttons. Back then, Tesla's minimalist cockpit made the central control large screen a standard feature, but all functions are deeply buried in the menu. Car owners even have to search for hidden functions while driving at high speed, significantly increasing the driving risk. One important reason why this seemingly convenient but actually dangerous design was adopted is that unifying all functions into the in - car system by eliminating physical buttons can effectively reduce vehicle manufacturing costs.

Source: Tesla's official WeChat account

Since the ban on fully hidden door handles is almost certain, many car owners have started to call for the cancellation of other useless designs, such as the central control without physical buttons and the non - opening panoramic sunroof.

The trend of panoramic sunroofs was also initiated by Tesla. On Tesla's official website, there was a description of the panoramic sunroof - creating a brighter and more open riding experience for users through the panoramic glass roof, allowing them to have a clear view of the sky and stars.

In the car - making enterprises' imagination, the glass roof allows you to see the beautiful scenery while blocking ultraviolet rays and keeping the interior cool. However, more car owners complain that they thought they could see the blue sky and white clouds every day with the panoramic sunroof, but instead, they only see dust and bird droppings.

"The biggest problem is that it bakes my head, making me feel dizzy," a NIO ES6 owner in Beijing told us. To protect from the sun, he bought aluminum foil cotton and pasted it on the inside of the glass, putting it on every summer and taking it off in autumn. When he drove a NIO ET5 in Yunnan recently, the sun was too strong there and the panoramic sunroof couldn't be opened. "As long as there is sun, it's like being tortured."

Netizens on social platforms share solutions for covering the panoramic sunroof with aluminum foil cotton

Some long - time Tesla Model Y owners have also complained that after driving for a while, they still spent more than 1,000 yuan to buy a full set of sunshades for the roof and rear doors on the official website. Tesla's official website shows that the current price of the Model Y glass roof sunshade is 860 yuan. As a result, when the standard - version Model Y without a panoramic sunroof was released in North America, netizens praised it, saying that this is not a downgrade but an upgrade!

Behind the useless designs, there are economic considerations

Whether it's hidden door handles or panoramic sunroofs, behind the so - called pursuit of technology and innovation, there is actually the self - interest of car - making enterprises. Many designs packaged as "benefiting" users are actually the result of careful calculations by car - making enterprises.

Take the panoramic sunroof as an example. Although it has a long history, it has only become popular in the new energy era. The first car equipped with a sunroof was born in 1932, but it was criticized for its safety and practicality at that time. It wasn't until 1941 that the Lincoln Coupe launched the first modern - style panoramic sunroof, leading the fashion trend. For decades after that, the panoramic sunroof was a symbol of luxury and status.

The Lincoln Continental Coupe was modified from the standard Lincoln Continental

In 2012, the Tesla Model S with a panoramic sunroof was launched, and models like the Model 3/Y were also equipped with panoramic sunroofs one after another. Since then, both luxury car owners and owners of cars priced under 100,000 yuan have enjoyed the "equality of sunroofs" in advance.

Why has the once - unattainable and luxury - symbolizing panoramic sunroof become a standard feature in new energy vehicles?

One reason is to consider the riding comfort. Usually, new energy vehicles need to store batteries at the bottom, which compresses the vertical space inside the car. The panoramic sunroof is thinner than the metal roof, solving the problem of the thick battery pack affecting the headroom of passengers.

The second reason is cost and economic considerations. Compared with traditional sunroofs, panoramic sunroofs do not require complex structures such as drives, drainage, and transmissions, so the cost is lower. Taking Tesla as an example, the panoramic sunroof uses high - strength laminated glass, which is cheaper than traditional steel and aluminum. Some industry insiders have estimated that the cost of traditional sunroofs usually ranges from 3,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan, while the average cost of an ordinary panoramic sunroof is only about 1,500 yuan.

When car - making enterprises cut costs, the user experience is bound to be greatly reduced. Compared with traditional sunroofs, the two major drawbacks of panoramic sunroofs are that they cannot be opened and are not equipped with sunshades.

Collective complaints about the panoramic sunroof design on social networks

Many new energy vehicle owners say that the first thing they do after picking up their cars is to order a sunshade for the panoramic sunroof, even earlier than ordering a phone holder.

Some professionals believe that for car - making enterprises, the truly effective measure is to add a heat - insulating layer and use different materials such as double - coated glass.

However, car - making enterprises that pursue the ultimate input - output ratio are doomed to have difficulty empathizing with users. Just look at Yu Chengdong. He talked a lot at the AITO M5 launch event about how many cars use MacPherson suspension to reduce costs, while the M5 uses a double - wishbone independent front suspension. But then, the AITO M7 uses the cheaper MacPherson suspension. In front of the account book, being slapped in the face is never a big deal.

Making mistakes is inevitable

Although people are puzzled by a series of anti - human designs in the automotive industry, when viewed from a longer - term perspective, this is almost an inevitable detour in the development of the automotive industry history.

Major automobile brands have had similar situations in different eras - attracting scolding and controversy due to wrong positioning and strange designs. The chassis and body of each generation of cars have undergone complex iterations from complexity to simplicity, and all designs that cannot stand the test of time will gradually disappear from history.

In 1970, Ford launched the Pinto model, which caused multiple collision and fire accidents due to a design flaw in the fuel tank. The reason was that the fuel tank was placed under the rear axle, and it would rupture and explode in rear - end collisions. Initially, Ford delayed the recall and improvement due to cost - compensation considerations, but under public opinion and litigation pressure, Ford was forced to recall all the problematic vehicles. The "Ford Pinto case" became the largest automotive compensation case in history.

The Pinto vehicle on fire

In 1976, Aston Martin even launched a wedge - shaped model. At that time, Aston Martin was facing a financial crisis, and the team hoped to attract new users through some innovations. However, the result of taking an extreme approach was that the overly avant - garde appearance scared away the original target customers, and this creative attempt became the biggest failure in the history of this British luxury brand.

Aston Martin Lagonda

It can be said that since the birth of the automobile, design anxiety has always accompanied the industry.

In March this year, the "Xiaomi SU7 accident incident" put Xiaomi into the biggest trust crisis since its establishment 15 years ago