A signature feature of the Ford Mustang Mach-E since its launch has been its electric door latches. It eschews traditional handles for an electric button and pull tabs that give the car a smooth, clean, concept-like finish. Press the button, and little arms push the doors out slightly for you to open. It’s a nifty feature, but it’s also dependent on having power from the 12-volt battery. Without power, getting into the car becomes much more complicated. Not too long ago, this resulted in a woman not being able to get her child out of the back of the car when she parked and closed her door before attempting to open the rear door. Now, customers in California have filed a class-action lawsuit over the door handles.

How The Mustang Mach-E Doors Work

The Mustang Mach-E is far from the first car to use electric door latches. The C6 generation of the Chevrolet Corvette and its platform-mate, the Cadillac XLR, had a similar design starting in the mid-2000s. But the issue with the Ford is that the only way to open the doors from the exterior is electrically. The Corvette had a keyhole connected to a mechanical release on the hatchback to allow entry to the cabin. With the Ford, the only access point with a dead battery is a cover on the front bumper. Popping that off reveals two cables. Hooking jumper cables to those will pop the hood, which allows access to the battery. The battery then has to be jumped to get power to the other doors for unlocking. As the lawsuit and common sense note, this is a problem if you don’t have jumper cables, or if those cables were in the car that’s now inaccessible. It’s a bigger problem if whoever is left in the car is unable to operate the door handles, such as a small child or pet.

Kazerouni Law Group, APC and Diab Chambers, LLP filed this suit on behalf of a number of Mach-E owners. They allege that the functionality of the Mach-E’s door handles is a safety defect, one that would have made the owners reconsider their purchase. They also allege that this reduces the value of their vehicles and that, in an emergency, the owners could end up having to pay for expensive window repairs. Repairs that could be avoided with a manual release. We’ve reached out to Ford for comment, but have not received a reply at the time of publishing. We’ll update when we’ve heard back.

Keep It Simple, Stylists

Ford may be the subject of this lawsuit, but overcomplicated door handles are a more widespread issue. Let’s go back to those Corvettes with electric door handles. Not only did they rely on buttons as the primary way to open the doors from the outside, they did so inside, as well. Chevy did have manual emergency releases for the doors, but they weren’t on the doors. The release handles were located on the floor by the side sills, and not especially visible. In fact, this design has continued through the C7 and C8 generations. You can even find companies that sell stickers to make the emergency release more visible. About a decade ago, an elderly man and his dog died after getting stuck in their Corvette and not finding the emergency release.

The Tesla Model 3 is another car that complicates interior door handles. It also relies on button releases for all four doors. There are emergency releases, but only the front doors are easy to find. Those are simply part of the normal door handle, which Ford also does with the Mach-E. Unlike on the Mach-E, the rear emergency releases are extremely hidden. They’re covered by non-descript plastic panels in the bottoms of the door bins, and are simple cable loops to pull. We think someone stuck in the back would be far more likely to end up climbing to the front and trying those door handles than ever finding the hidden rear emergency releases.

With EVs, automakers are experimenting more and more with door handles, usually by having them sit flush until unlocked or approached. There are certainly benefits in reducing drag, unlocking precious miles of range. The smooth look is cool, too. But as we can see, they complicate ingress and egress, which can be a simple problem of ergonomics, or even one of safety. It also adds cost and complexity to a car both at initial production, and if repairs are needed. For all those reasons, we think automakers should rethink their zany door handle ideas.

Source: Kazerouni Law Group via Law360.com, CorvetteBlogger.com