- Dozens of cars today use electric poppers to open their doors.
- In some cases, the physical backup is somewhat hidden or tough to find.
- The all-new Dodge Charger Daytona seems to follow the trend of hidden handles.
For well over a decade, some production cars have shown up to owners with electric door poppers. The technology isn’t exclusive to electric vehicles or exactly novel, either. The C5 Chevrolet Corvette has electronic door releases, as does the Dodge Viper.
In the USA, any car with this type of door release has to have a manual backup, and that’s where we find our problem today. Every automaker gets to decide where and how they’ll employ that manual backup. Let’s have a quick look at exactly where Dodge decided to put them on the new Charger Daytona.
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Carscoops was on hand at the Los Angeles Auto Show to see the new Charger Daytona. One thing we noticed right away was the door popper button in the cabin. It’s located on the side of the door card and passengers will likely use their thumb to smack it when they want to get out.
It also had us immediately wondering where the manual backup was. Here are a few photos of the door card. Take a moment and see if you can spot it. If you can’t find it, move on to the next as we get closer and closer to the handle.
Notice that the manual release is somewhat deep and far forward on the door card. From the driver’s seat, it is completely out of view. The new Jeep Wagoneer S has a similar design with a slightly easier-to-find and access manual release. It’s easy to see why some condemn handles like this. Will drivers unfamiliar with the car be able to get out in the case of a crash or power failure in the car?
That’s a real issue that many Tesla drivers have ended up complaining about. While, no doubt, it’s the responsibility of an adult driving a car to understand how to escape in case of emergency, it’s easy to understand why people end up confused by handles like this.
To Tesla’s credit, the front door manual release is typically right on top of the armrest, far more visible and easy to use than the one in the Dodge Charger Daytona. At the same time, the rear door release is sometimes under the carpet in the middle of the rear bench seat. That’s not simple or easy to find in an emergency.
This isn’t even a problem that needs to exist because some automakers like Lexus and Audi seem to have a very simple and elegant solution. Rather than present a button to pop the doors, they still use a physical handle. Pulling on it gently engages the electric door release. In case of emergency, a full hard pull on the exact same handle will actuate the physical backup and the door will open.
In some cases, the button that engages the electric release also is a handle that occupants can pull out to engage the manual release. Should door handles like those in Lexus and Audi products be required or should automakers have the freedom to add manual releases as they see fit? Tell us your thoughts below!
