There are no door handles. There's a button by the window that pops the door open. Franz showed it off a few weeks ago and Elon said a while ago there would be no handles.
That's the launch prototype. Its also bigger, has a different shape, stainless steel bed, etc.
That video and those images are years old.
On the current model S, the motor isn't strong enough to even leave a mark. Personally, I like the capacitive touch to open.
It did in the prototype ... we're comparing retractable door handles to capacitive. Point was, nobody is going to loose a finger with retractable handles as so many fear. But regardless, capacitive just eliminates parts and complexity and imho promotes a better user experience.
I was highly skeptical of that from the beginning. It seems it would have massive implications for crash safety, both for passengers and pedestrians. Seems I was right.
I'll have to go rewatch the Elon videos from the announcement to refresh my memory but I recall them saying that the exoskeleton was to increase the overall strength with minimal internal structure, not zero internal structure, I don't remember them ever saying anything that it wouldn't be unibody + exoskeleton, that's kind of what I expected all along.
The actual CT isn't an exoskeleton as in the panels are attached to the internal structure instead of the SS bearing the load according to Sandy Munro. He postulated they did this for safety and crash testing.
Compared to traditional trucks (ex- Rivian), the CT design is far more "exoskeleton" than anything that has come before it, especially considering the fact that it will have a structural pack ("exoskeleton" was always just marketing hype from Elon). I was always skeptical of a load-bearing brake-bent stainless structure. I'm glad they pivoted.
You're so right. God I'm so tired of folks trying to make something incorrectly quoted right. There is no exoskeleton here. A beetle has an exoskeleton. NO INTERNAL bones holding the shape of the creature. Look no one tries to say a turtle has an exoskeleton because there are internal bones, ribs, leg, arm, paws etc. The shell protects but does not qualify it as an exoskeleton. No one tried to describe any man made product as an exoskeleton design fore this was incorrectly referenced with the CT. That internal structure (which acts like a skeleton and holds the shape) invalidates the exoskeleton reference. The panels will fall down without them. Sorry but no exoskeleton design here.
