I’m certain Scout Motors is paying close attention to all the things in the automotive world.
That said, there’s been a trend of manufacturers going toward all-electric in everything, re-inventing things like door handles for no good reason, just to “disrupt” the space, apparently without any idea what their end-goal is.
Mechanical door handles can fail, of course. Locks can be engaged accidentally. Children have been locked in vehicles since the invention of vehicle door locks.
But there’s a greater chance of failure if a door lock is purely electronic when the failure of the source of power engages the lock (rather than electric failure automatically disengaging a lock). That failure mode can be incredibly dangerous. If the power fails, the default should be to disengage the door lock. And the exterior door handle should have a mechanical operation.
But the Mustang Mach-E relies on electrical power to activate the door plunger to open the door from outside. There’s a software error where if the low-voltage battery is low/dead, and if the door is opened by the interior mechanical handle, the car doesn’t change the door lock setting.
An example of how this can be problematic: A care-giver driving the Mustang has a child in the rear seat. They stop the car, exit, close their door, and go to open the rear door. If the low-voltage battery is low or dead, the car could remain locked after the driver exits the vehicle and closes their door. Then because the battery is low, the rear door will not open (because it uses 12V electrical power to engage the door plunger). The child is locked in the car with no way to get in without breaking a window (unless someone carries an emergency battery on the exterior of the vehicle somewhere, which nobody realistically does).
I’m a big fan of certain kinds of technology when it makes things better. I’m a huge fan of change. But I’m a huge opponent of changing things just to change them. Making things better is better. Just changing things to be different doesn’t always work well.
That said, there’s been a trend of manufacturers going toward all-electric in everything, re-inventing things like door handles for no good reason, just to “disrupt” the space, apparently without any idea what their end-goal is.
Mechanical door handles can fail, of course. Locks can be engaged accidentally. Children have been locked in vehicles since the invention of vehicle door locks.
But there’s a greater chance of failure if a door lock is purely electronic when the failure of the source of power engages the lock (rather than electric failure automatically disengaging a lock). That failure mode can be incredibly dangerous. If the power fails, the default should be to disengage the door lock. And the exterior door handle should have a mechanical operation.
But the Mustang Mach-E relies on electrical power to activate the door plunger to open the door from outside. There’s a software error where if the low-voltage battery is low/dead, and if the door is opened by the interior mechanical handle, the car doesn’t change the door lock setting.
An example of how this can be problematic: A care-giver driving the Mustang has a child in the rear seat. They stop the car, exit, close their door, and go to open the rear door. If the low-voltage battery is low or dead, the car could remain locked after the driver exits the vehicle and closes their door. Then because the battery is low, the rear door will not open (because it uses 12V electrical power to engage the door plunger). The child is locked in the car with no way to get in without breaking a window (unless someone carries an emergency battery on the exterior of the vehicle somewhere, which nobody realistically does).
I’m a big fan of certain kinds of technology when it makes things better. I’m a huge fan of change. But I’m a huge opponent of changing things just to change them. Making things better is better. Just changing things to be different doesn’t always work well.
