I was just out in Los Angeles for one of our periodic Autopian Leadership Synods and ayahuasca-fueled vision quests that eventually form the basis for our future business plans. While there, we had use of a Polestar 4 press car – you know, the one without the rear window, which is what everyone has been clamoring for, as I’m sure you know. But it’s not that absence of a rear window that I think is the most unsettling and disturbing detail of this car: it’s something smaller and more insidious, and something that I feel is remarkably well-suited to showcase what feels like a pervasive madness of modern automotive design.
It’s just a little detail, but I think its very existence is something we should really be looking at and thinking about, critically. Because the very existence of this feature – and I’m hesitant to really call it a “feature” – implies a way of thinking about modern cars that I feel is fundamentally flawed and deeply annoying, and is a way of thinking that contributes to the modern problems of cars being too expensive to buy, repair, and maintain. Also, it’s just kind of stupid.
It’s this:
See that? It’s that little button there that you use to close the charging port. There’s a motor behind there, and that motor moves the door closed – you know, like what you could do with your hand without even thinking about it, like you’ve been doing to little refueling flaps (gasoline or electrons or hydrogen or whatever, it doesn’t matter) for decades.
The button is very counterintuitive; every single fiber of your soul wants to just close the damn flap with your hand like you’ve been closing doors and cabinets and mailboxes and whatever since you were a toddler, but if you try you can feel the hidden motor connected to that hinge resist and suggest, via subtle tactile cues, that you’ll probably cause hundreds of dollars of damage or more were you to absent-mindedly force it.
Can you picture how maddening this is? It drives me clamshit. Here’s some video evidence of the madness-driving:
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Now, having to open the charging port from the inside isn’t great, but there are plenty of cars that have you open the fuel door with some little button or lever, so I can’t really fault the Polestar 4 for that. And besides, it looks like it can be opened manually from the outside, according to the manual:
I mean, they say it’s only for emergencies and you shouldn’t do it regularly, and they mention “prying” which hardly seems ideal. That said, there’s another part of the manual that says you can open it manually, and it’s a little less dire-sounding:
Despite this, though, the preferred way is indeed opening from the center screen’s menu:
I think you can open it from the phone app, too? All of this feels like needless complexity, especially considering that on other Polestar cars, like the Polestar 2, all you have to do is tap the charge door to open it and close it with your hand, you know, like every other freaking car on Earth:
What was wrong with this? Aesthetically, it looks no different from the outside of the car; there are no aerodynamic disadvantages; it accomplishes the same function as the powered door, and does it without the extra complexity of a motor and specialized software. It was fine. Not a problem at all.
I suppose the only advantage the powered door offers is that it can close itself, if you forget and leave it open (which is hardly an Earth-shattering problem), as described in the manual:
So, okay, it can automatically do something that you could have also done essentially automatically. How is any of this worth it? I can’t think of anything I need a car to do for me less than closing a tiny door. But look at all the complexity and complication that gets introduced for this nearly meaningless feature! I mean, look at how many more pages of owner’s manual is taken up just describing how this feature is to be properly interacted with (especially compared to the half-page the Polestar 2 needs to explain how to open and close its charge port), and then there’s the fact that there’s a motor in there and associated wiring and gearing and linkages and the software needed to control it and sense when it’s open or shut and on and on and all for what? So you don’t have to move your hand three inches?
The mentality that led to anyone thinking this is a good idea is deeply and profoundly misguided. Modern cars are so wildly expensive precisely because of this sort of thinking, this concept that every interaction with the car needs to be motorized or interact with the car’s software and screens or be remotely actuated in some inane way – it’s absurd. This way of thinking burdens cars with needless hardware and software and complexity, and the end result is an experience that’s just more annoying than the old manual ways.
Look at the issues with powered door handles, for example: there’s a reason China is banning them. They add complexity and don’t work reliably in emergency situations, and all for what? So rubes can be dazzled when the handle slowly slides out from the car? It’s ridiculous. Door handles were a solved problem, and these new powered solutions only made them worse.
The same goes for this charge port flap. No one was asking for a fucking button to close the door. No one’s experience with this car is improved thanks to the addition of this button or any of the associated rules and systems that the charge flap now demands.
Am I being a luddite? I don’t think so. I like seeing new tech applied to cars, but only if it actually, you know, makes owning and using that car better. And so much of what is being put into new cars is not making them better. Touchscreen-controlled air vents and gloveboxes are idiotic, for example. None of this crap is making cars better, just more complex and expensive. And if you think all this electrical bullshit isn’t going to be a problem as the car ages, then I envy your ability to happily delude yourself.
It’s up to us to speak out and push back when we see this sort of bad design happening. When carmakers seem to be going down a poorly chosen path, we need to make it clear that there are plenty of potential car buyers who don’t want this. I suspect most people are absolutely capable of slapping a charge door shut, and are just fine with that. If there’s something I’m missing here, some glorious joy that comes from pushing a stupid button to get a motor to close a door I could have more easily just shut with my hand, I’m listening.
Until then, Polestar, knock it off, already.
Top graphic image: Jason Torchinsky
TBH, the insane plethora of little motors and solenoids and sensors on new cars, even some lower-end/semi-affordable ones, fills me with dread. Electrically operated glove box doors, door handles, widgets inside the cabin such as HVAC vents, shifter handles, etc… any and all of which are potential failure points as the car ages. Hasn’t anyone involved in the design of these cars ever owned a vehicle that’s 20 years old or older? Electrically operated hatches at least make some sense, though they worry me too. But all the other stuff (with door handles and glove box doors being the most most obvious) is just ridiculous. Who’s going to foot the bill to fix these when the car has depreciated by 80% or more?
PS: love your Apple ][ shirt Jason: that’s my first computer system: a ][+ with one floppy drive and a small CRT display. The computer, purchased new sometime around ’78-9 (I think… right before the //e came out) cost me about $1,538. if memory serves. There was a computer store directly across the street from the summer job I had at a drycleaners… I’d work the counter and stare longingly. 🙂
What’s more wrong is that the button is in the wrong place. You need to move your hand away from the button or the door will slam on your finger.
I think the Autopian should move past the ranty parts (we all agree with you here Jason and ALSO love you) but I feel you could have more pull than us on this. Could you do an interview with the people responsible for this? And the Rivian vents, and the bs door handles etc and let us see their view on this so we understand WHY?
Why is R2 keeping the damn Dashboard vent motors and the non mechanical emergency door releases for rear seats hidden? Why are they not taking the cost savings – is there something missing here?
I say let the man rant. He’s earned it, and the cause is righteous.
Oh I am all for ranting. I just want to move this up to the folks who inflict it on us. We’re just a choir here and unhelpful in that.
He did talk to the Volvo people about the glove box. They said focus groups wanted a button on a screen. I would imagine it would be the same here.
Who are they pulling in to these focus groups? People who like gadgets and shiny things but have never actually owned or used a car?
Same problem with the powered rear hatch of my EV6. The instructions say not to close it manually, and let the motor pull it close. It’s my first powered hatch, and I’ll take a manual one any time. Soooo slow.
I have, more than a few times, sat in the car before realizing I forgot to close the charge door. Having a motor close it means I don’t have to get out and go close it. I had to do that on my previous car. I don’t miss it. I’ll make the sacrifice of pushing a button to close the door.
My Volt has one of those “clicky in clicky out” plungers for the charge door, like you’d find on a glass fronted media center from the 90’s. Tactile, functional, I can bump it with my elbow if my hands are full, it’s great!
Our PHEV Pacifica had the same door. There were a few times where I would unplug and totally forget to close the door – and it would stay open till I hit about 35MPH and slam shut. And even then it wouldn’t be fully shut (clicked out) – and it would drive me nuts… I remember getting out at stop lights just to make sure it closed all the way (click in). On the other hand the Tesla charge port door just works perfectly every time without thinking about it.
If I don’t close the door fully, the car will pop up with a message and a beep.
The Pacifica didn’t care at all… no notice anywhere.
Same on the Bolt, but they somehow managed to make the mechanism finnicky. I’ve had it pop open on the highway on its own a few times, but I’m tall enough I can reach out the window and close it while I’m driving. I’d still take it any day over something with an electric motor though, especially on the days when there’s snow/ice buildup on the door from charging overnight, and I have to pound on the charge door a bit to get it to close. I wonder if the electric design would fail to close the charge door with ice on it, and then prevent the vehicle from driving?
Yeah, it’s a minor nit on my Ioniq 5 too. You should be able to close and open it by hand, maybe having the motor assist if you push or pull on it.
Any brand that thinks pressing a button is cool for closing your charging/gas cap door, or that it’s reasonable in 2026, is doomed. Ergonomics is everything when people have been doing something the same way for their whole life. I just don’t understand all these EV brands, except BYD appears to do everything well. If only there were an American brand that could pull off what BYD can at the same price.
Yup, our EV9 has both the stupid powered door handles and a powered charging port door. I’ll give both a pass for ‘luxury’ applications since the interior door handles are mechanical and therefore not actively dangerous. The charging port door will also close itself if you try to drive off with it open, which I appreciate, so that’s something.
*But* please also offer regular cars without all the needless complexity that you can actually find in stock at a dealer. ‘Normal’ models that you can’t actually find don’t count.
Yet my ’22 Niro EV is perfectly happy to have a little spring-loaded door you push and it pops open, you push close and it latches. Like they decided ‘complicated’ meant ‘fancy’
Tesla’s powered door works great. You can open it from the app, inside screen, the button on the charging handle, or tapping on the outside of the port door. There’s no button to close it. It just closes when you remove the cable. It gives you a few seconds to get out of the way, but if you are impatient you can just close it with your hand.
yep, works perfectly fine. very odd decision here from Polestar. looks uglier, and less intuitive.
Normally, this is the sort of thing that would really annoy me. But this is a vehicle that has removed the rear window in favor of a rearview camera. If it didn’t have a motorized charging door, the target audience would complain. I’m just surprised how normal the charging door still looks. I’d expect a weird sliding cover that moves in more directions than necessary to showcase the technological excesses of the vehicle.
I have no interest in Polestar at this point. I want an EV, but one that makes sense. Minimizing needless complexity and having physical controls don’t feel like big asks.
I agree; this is a cloud that needs to be yelled at.
They’re just getting ready for the robotic charging arm that will be able to automatically plug in your car when you park it.
The fifth owner of that Polestar will be quite glad you got one with an automatic charger door openerator. You and the second through fourth owners will mostly be annoyed at the repair bill, but the fifth owner will think it’s epic.
i think ill just skip the whole electric vehicle thing. too many annoying features indeed.
That’s quite the solution to keep someone with a hose from siphoning out electrons from the electron tank.
Blame the goddamn automotive journalists.
Automakers have been adding these idiotic new features because they have figured out that if they don’t, the automotive press simply won’t cover their cars. Good, basic, reliable transportation is simply not good enough anymore. If you aren’t wowing the press, you won’t get covered. And no better way to get one’s attention is by adding stupid automation and screens and motors to everything.
…are they seriously having you close the door by pressing a button that will be covered by the door? So, the door would close on your hand if you didn’t move out of the way?
I don’t care if the door closes really slowly/weakly, that just seems like poor safety practice. It sounds so uncomfortable and like something you shouldn’t encourage people to get used to.
What a wretched, worthless idea.
It’s like needing to shut your garage door from the wall-mounted controller, and then run out before it shuts all the way while stepping over the laser beam.
Except it isn’t fun.
I feel like such a rebel every time I do that. 😀
It makes me feel more like a spy or something. I’m going to escape before the security door shuts!
https://i.makeagif.com/media/9-10-2015/hcR4bM.gif
Also I enjoyed the tech explanation behind Volvo EX60’s electronic doors:
“It’s safe, because if you can’t get in, it’s a big solid chunk underneath the door, so the firefighters can pull really hard, essentially tearing the mechanism open. Or they can break the window and pull on the mechanical release from the inside.”
See? No problem. And what you get in return is the gentle luxury feeling of quieter door opening mechanism.
Meanwhile here I am, nervous every time I open my frameless doors with mechanical handles, because my brain thinks “how many times is the window rolling mechanism engaged, that will have to fail eventually.”
Well Jason, you might be looking at it the wrong way. Door handles weren’t a solved problem, they were an unexplored opportunity for innovative culturally disruptive philosophical problems.
Reminds me of the good old “shit user story” twitter:
AS a car owner
I WANT electronically retracted door handles
SO THAT I enjoy the thrill of “why won’t they come out?!” every time it freezes.
Or an alternative:
AS a car designer
I WANT our car to have electronic door handles
SO THAT the firefighters can have fun trying to figure out where the mechanical release is when the driver crashes.
Nobody with half a brain would buy one of those anyway…
The white humpback whale of Gothenburg
Strange that Polestar has become a brand for dumb people who make bad choices. Wasn’t it some kind of Volvo in the beginning?
I take issue with this. The Polestar 2 is a fantastic car.
Yes, the 1 and 2 seemed pretty amazing. What the hell happened?
“Touchscreen-controlled air vents and gloveboxes are idiotic, for example. None of this crap is making cars better, just more complex and expensive.”
No they don’t. What DID make air vents better were:
1) Motorized sweeping vents like I had in my 1990 Mazda 626. Why oh why did those not catch on?
2) CROTCH COOLERS! FFS BRING THOSE BACK!!
As for glove boxes just make them big enough for all my crap and I’m good.
Also how about returning to a double, maybe triple DIN sized hole in the dash?
I agree with number 2, it’s an underrated feature, and probably unknown to many car owners. However, if it’s fully automatic and you can’t even close it manually, it can become a PITA (or rather a PITC): if it’s blowing hot or cold air when you don’t want, the only way of stopping it is to tape a piece of paper or cardboard over it.
I’ve never seen one that the driver couldn’t manually swivel or turn off.
My Jaguar XJ40 1990 (or 91) could not be turned off or closed manually. I think I could swivel it manually, but only a little bit, so I had the choice of getting unwanted air blowing on my knees or on my crotch.
That’s indeed strange. You’d think the epitome of British luxury would be the ideal climate gently wafting exactly where it needed onto a gentleman’s area of business.
Funny you should say, it had indeed a really good climate control system, except this one little motor that controlled the crotch vent failed at some point, unfortunately.
I’m surprised this doesn’t require a subscription. They could have the motor turn into a micro-generator if you insist on closing it manually.
My EV6 has a powered charge port door, as does the similar IoniQ5. The charge port door on the Mach E I used to have was manually operated, but it had push button electronic doors without any external manual override (no key hole or mechanical door handle on the exterior of the car). The power charging port door is the much less dangerous of two evils.