Handles!!

[Popeye]

If someone walks by that close, they deserve to be "hooked"!

For real! Why you getting so close to my $50k car??

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[eager2own]

I have not seen in person so will withhold judgment till I get first hand experience but,, does anybody else see the potential for a liability associated with this 'hook' protruding out of the side of the car? A person walks by car with heavy coat/clothing, get belt loop/clothing caught on handle, falls with injury. Will Ford cover liability? Just asking. Handle need to recede when door closed.

No. This is no more an issue than losing sleep over people getting injured by walking into your bumper or getting “hooked” on your antenna.

 

[TheSteelRider]

I have not seen in person so will withhold judgment till I get first hand experience but...

Pun intended? ?

 

[ChasingCoral]

I have not seen in person so will withhold judgment till I get first hand experience but,, does anybody else see the potential for a liability associated with this 'hook' protruding out of the side of the car? A person walks by car with heavy coat/clothing, get belt loop/clothing caught on handle, falls with injury. Will Ford cover liability? Just asking. Handle need to recede when door closed.

The handle does not retract into the car. Being so close assumes you are in a parking lot between cars or such. Being caught is not a tripping hazard as your balance point is below door handle height. Have you asked that question about bumpers or mirrors?

 

[Blitz118]

I have not seen in person so will withhold judgment till I get first hand experience but,, does anybody else see the potential for a liability associated with this 'hook' protruding out of the side of the car? A person walks by car with heavy coat/clothing, get belt loop/clothing caught on handle, falls with injury. Will Ford cover liability? Just asking. Handle need to recede when door closed.

 

[Paulalex01]

The handle does not retract into the car. Being so close assumes you are in a parking lot between cars or such. Being caught is not a tripping hazard as your balance point is below door handle height. Have you asked that question about bumpers or mirrors?

Actually I have seen person get caught on a mirror. Fortunately, the mirror swiveled and they came free. It did rip their shirt. Also, people are clumsy. Getting caught could cause a backward jerk, losing balance. Just saying there's a potential hazard for a clumsy or inattentive person to get caught in a parking lot or other close quarters. Hopefully, if it becomes an issue, plaintiff will go for the deep pockets.

 

[dbsb3233]

Since the handle is located up higher on the door than normal (actually up on the window ledge), it's actually indented quite a bit from the outermost point of the door. So while there's always a chance it could hook something that someone is dragging along the side of the car, it's a lot less likely than if it protruded from where a normal door handle sits.

 

[Hank]

I'm still wondering what's the need of this hook, the rear doors work as well without it.

 

[dbsb3233]

I'm still wondering what's the need of this hook, the rear doors work as well without it.

I suspect it's in part as a backup in case something goes wrong with the "pusher" mechanism. Or the doors freeze and you need more leverage.

The back doesn't really need a backup handle to get in because if there's some such failure, you can always crawl into the back from the front and then push the door open from the inside.

Some people may simply prefer grabbing the hook/handle instead of sticking their fingers inside the door edge. The handle is located in the spot where you should be able to one-hand it (thumb on the button and fingers in the handle to pull the door the rest of the way open). I suspect that may be the most common way people will open the door.

 

[ChasingCoral]

I suspect it's in part as a backup in case something goes wrong with the "pusher" mechanism. Or the doors freeze and you need more leverage.

The back doesn't really need a backup handle to get in because if there's some such failure, you can always crawl into the back from the front and then push the door open from the inside.

Some people may simply prefer grabbing the hook/handle instead of sticking their fingers inside the door edge. The handle is located in the spot where you should be able to one-hand it (thumb on the button and fingers in the handle to pull the door the rest of the way open). I suspect that may be the most common way people will open the door.

Some of the videos demonstrate the ease of opening the door with a touch of the button and hooking the handle to open it the rest of the way. You can even do it with a briefcase or whatever in your hand.

 

[TheSteelRider]

Here is a nice clear pic of handles out in the wild. I assume this is a test Mule, so I would not know if this is the "final" handle design.

 

[dbsb3233]

That's the first one I've noticed a "bottom" to. Maybe it's just because previous pictures where never that clear, but I thought the previous pics showed an open "J" shape. This one clearly shows a closed bottom. That means only fingertips can be used. But it also means something like a purse strap or jacket pocket won't accidentally get hooked when brushing up against it, which is good.

 

[ChasingCoral]

That's a great photo find. That is a new design. The car show prototypes had a wing that was free standing, that is the wing was only supported at the forward edge.

This new design is trough-like, it is not only supported at the forward edge but all along the bottom. While it won't be as easy to just hook with the edge of your hand or a briefcase/handbag handle, it is much more substantial and less likely to break off or to hang up on your clothes.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Here are the old (red hand-built car show prototype) and new (blue pre-production from Cuautitlan) together.

On the old one, the shadow clearly shows it is only supported at the leading edge, not the bottom.

You can also clearly see in this photo that the new one is supported along the entire length of the handle.

 

[ChasingCoral]

I have not seen in person so will withhold judgment till I get first hand experience but,, does anybody else see the potential for a liability associated with this 'hook' protruding out of the side of the car? A person walks by car with heavy coat/clothing, get belt loop/clothing caught on handle, falls with injury. Will Ford cover liability? Just asking. Handle need to recede when door closed.

Problem solved. See new handle design.

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