Say what you will about Saturday Night Live, but every once in a while, it comes out with an absolute banger. The long-running live NBC sketch comedy show often airs satirical musical performances in addition to letting its actual musical guests perform, and its latest ballad paints a target on a widely disdained piece of modern automotive design: Door handles.
As a car enthusiast who obsesses over everything automobile and spends many hours a day online, it’s easy to assume that some complaints are limited to die-hards and critics like myself. For years, people in my circles complained about how modern door handle designs, both inside and outside of the car, are becoming pointlessly complex. It was only a few months ago that regulators in China revealed they’re considering banning flush door handles due to their complexity and oftentimes obscure designs.
By now, it’s obvious that it’s not just gearheads who think normal door handles were a solved issue. Ask anyone who’s interacted with a strange, pointlessly engineered electric door release or flush exterior handle, and they’ll probably have a strong opinion about it.
This SNL sketch, embedded below, exemplifies those opinions clearly. The song was set to air this past Saturday, but was cut for time. Thankfully, instead of locking it away on a hard drive somewhere in 30 Rock, NBC published it to the show’s YouTube channel the next morning to give car designers a piece of their mind.
The clip features cast members Jane Wickline and Veronika Slowikowska, with a special appearance by Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie, the week’s celebrity guest host. It starts off depicting the two women getting into an Uber after a night of partying. But when they try to exit the car, they struggle to figure out what should be the extremely simple process of opening the door to exit, arguing with the “driver” for over 20 seconds.
The car in question is a Mustang Mach-E, a vehicle that, very famously, doesn’t have any real door handles. Instead, to get in, you push a button on the window frame and use a fixed winglet-looking handle to pull it out and gain access. There aren’t any traditional handles inside, either. To get out, you have to pull a lever that’s hidden within the door pull area:
In addition to calling out button-style doors, the song goes on to criticize “squeeze” handles, where, instead of a traditional handle, there’s a big mechanism hidden in the door card to actuate the door opening. Not to keep ragging on Ford, but this is a mainstay feature on trucks like the Ranger and the F-150.
While handles like this might seem obvious to those who have owned vehicles with them equipped, I distinctly remember wasting 30 seconds trying to get out of the last F-150 I drove simply because I couldn’t find the handle (location called out below). Is that partially due to my own stupidity? Certainly. But even the dimmest among us shouldn’t have to search for a door handle or figure out how to use it. Like I said earlier, this is supposed to be a solved issue!
Before the two women storm into the offices of “Big Car” to confront the CEO (played by Storrie) about handle design and the storyline goes off the rails, they also briefly call out Tesla’s flush door handles, which are currently the subject of a federal investigation. In addition to being confusing to use from the outside, the door is normally actuated by a button on the inside, which could stop working in the event of a crash. There’s a backup release built into the door, but it can be tough to find, which isn’t ideal when you’ve just been involved in a wreck and are otherwise trapped.
Tesla isn’t the only automaker that uses electric door handles, obviously. Heck, the Corvette has been doing it for over 20 years. I’m kind of sad SNL didn’t call out the Lexus NX, which has a handle design that’s so counterintuitive that the manufacturer needed to put a sticker on the inside to explain how to use it. My colleague Jason wrote a whole thing about this, and even made a video about it:
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It’s possible that if enough automakers transition to electric door handles, people will eventually get used to them. I have a much simpler idea: Everyone should just go back to normal, mechanical door handles. Problem solved.
Top graphic images: Saturday Night Live/Youtube
My 1969 Thunderbird had the squeeze door handles on the inside.
Many people would not know how to open the door. Mankind doomed to repeating they’re mistakes.
But they were at least mechanical, not electric.
TVR was a trend setter 30 years ago. My Chimera had an unlabeled button under the sideview mirrors that popped the doors. On the inside? An unlabeled golf ball looking dial that you twist clockwise to pop one door, and counter clockwise to pop the other. Windows? Unlabeled rockers hidden in the center pocket under the hvac stack. When I picked it up from the port after importing, the windows had been left down in the open air dock, probably because they couldn’t figure how to get out otherwise.
“…the song goes on to criticize “squeeze” handles, where, instead of a traditional handle, there’s a big mechanism hidden in the door card to actuate the door opening. Not to keep ragging on Ford, but this is a mainstay feature on trucks like the Ranger and the F-150.”
Have you never been in a 1968-1970 full-sized Ford or Mercury?
This is how things were back then.
Cheers for that, I remember them but couldn’t remember the make/years
On the infrequent occasions that I call a ride, I really just prefer a Corolla or something. I had the door problem with a Tesla (model 3?), and my feet can’t feet under the seats because there’s something down there in the way.
Why, just why….?
I was unable to both get in and get out of a recent Lincoln SUV a few weeks ago. The door opening mechanisms were inscrutable.
Actually I think the Ford truck door handles are by far the best of any vehicle I’ve been in lately.
Speaking of odd door handles, the New Cherokee has an electric hood latch. Why?
Talk about a great way to access a dead battery.
I’m sure there’s a manual cable hidden somewhere. You just need to check the manual via the infotainment screen.
Don’t be silly. It’s in the manual in the glove box that is accessible by opening it from the screen.
But don’t worry, there’s a manual release cable for the glove box under the hood.
Manual releases all the way down.
genuinely LOL’ed, luckily just seconds before taking a sip of coffee.. This string is a collective COTD
Only if you paid the subscription before the battery died though. And that’s only if they actually provide a paper copy. And more than likely, it’s a digital copy embedded in said screen, which is only accessible if the battery isn’t dead.
For the record, I don’t do uper. Even though the assholes have been expelled from the executive positions, they are still shareholders I do not wish to enrich.
One night I watched two people trying to get in to an uper testicle. The door handles would not activate. The driver struggled to do something from inside and then realized he could not even get out himself. He was trapped and the (probably) drunken people he was picking up were losing patience. Then he realized he was completely turtled because he also could not drive away, despite it appearing his vehicle had power. Since the vehicle was blocking a lane, the constabulary showed up. Debates were raging about breaking windows or just flat bedding it out of there with the driver trapped inside. I didn’t stick around to find out what happened.
I’m all for progress like this if it means deporting Elon to Mars.
WTH is an Uper Testicle? Is that a gonad for Michigan’s U.P.?
Nah, an imported Gonad from South Africa.
Sometimes you just have to let spill chick do the heavy lifting. 😉
This is so hilarious on so many levels.
Man, I’m going to tell you from experience, do not try to get into an uper testicle after a night of drinking…
Hyundai escape room? HYUNDAI Escape room???!!! No! Ford Escape Room! Come on, it was right there!!!
Thought the same. Maybe since it was a Mach-E they wanted to avoid poking the big F too much.
It’s probably Lorne not wanting to ruffle CEO Jim Farley, cousin of his former alum, Chris Farley.
Oh how ioniq…
Isn’t it?
Don’tcha TH!NK?
They didn’t want to cause confusion. Because a Ford Escape room would be the garage where you keep your Ford Escape
Well, I guess that is the most plausible explanation for these weird new door releases that anyone has offered so far