The Noble Reasoning Behind Lexus e-Latch Door Handles
Lexus e-Latch door handles aren’t just new fancy tech for the sake of it. They were designed to improve mobility and safety.
Before we get to Lexus e-Latch, do me a favor. Imagine opening up a car door — from the inside or out — and think about everything your fingers, hand, wrists, arms, and/or body do to accomplish this familiar motion. You’ve probably forgotten what’s involved as well all do. As the mundane retreats into muscle memory. So really imagine it…
And now try it again with an object in your door-opening hand. Or a heavy bag threatening to slip off your shoulder. Or a squirming child trying desperately to do anything else but help you start your day on time.
Notice how quick and easy manages to devolve into something between downright annoying and near impossible.
Keep this in mind, we’ll come right back to it.
What is Lexus e-Latch?
If you’ve had the chance to see a 2022+ Lexus NX, 2023 RX, or even the new all-electric RZ in person, you may have noticed that Lexus is updating their door handles. On the outside, in the place of a conventional handle that pulls on a mechanical latching mechanism to open the door, there is a stationary handle with an electronic button that pops open the door with a quick press and pull. On the inside, Lexus engineers added buttons to the doors’ armrests that serve the same function. Simply press with your thumb and push the door outward.
This system, “inspired by the traditional fusuma sliding paper screen room dividers in Japanese homes,” is called Lexus e-Latch.
Like anything new, it takes a moment of getting used to it. To train that future muscle memory. And, when I first encountered the technology, I wondered why Lexus needed to reinvent a concept that had been working well for decades. Why overcomplicate with something electronic when simple and mechanical work well?
Turns out there are actually two reasons. And they’re both quite noble.
The first, as I understand it, is about mobility. While attending the US media launch for the RZ, I overhead a Lexus representative talking to another member of the press about the difficulty some folks have with door handles. Imagine someone with arthritis. Or a broken wrist. Or any scenario where fine motor skills remain impacted.
Remember how oddly tricky opening up a door handle can be when the situation’s imperfect? Think of the way one has to flick and rotate a wrist while also leveraging a door outward. Or from the inside, how one must pull a handle inward while elbowing the door outward simultaneously.
Not an issue for most folks, but a big giant difficult conundrum for some.
And so the Lexus e-Latch makes door opening about as poetically simple as it can possibly be. Press a button and move a door in one constant motion.
Safe Exit Assist
The second reasoning behind e-Latch is something called “dooring.” If you’ve ever been a cyclist, you know what I’m talking about. For the rest of you, dooring is when you’re cruising along on a bicycle and a driver or passenger throws open a door without looking and catches your handle… which usually sends the cyclist somersaulting and cartwheeling over their handlebars.
It’s a real problem; it’s happened to me.
But with Lexus e-Latch, engineers cant integrate the door opening mechanism with a vehicle’s blind-spot monitoring. And so, if you don’t look before trying to open your door, but the vehicle sees another vehicle, a cyclist, or a pedestrian, it’ll prevent you from opening the door and ruining everyone’s day. Lexus calls this feature Safe Exit Assist.
(Seriously though, people, you need to be more careful.)
What About Emergencies?
As with anything electronic, failures inevitably happen and batteries inevitably die at exactly the wrong moment. So Lexus has built-in redundancies for its e-Latch system. To enter a vehicle where the e-Latch isn’t functioning, one must use the hidden key included inside the vehicle’s key fob. And to exit a vehicle with a non-functioning e-Latch, the interior buttons are actually smartly designed latches. Simply reach behind and pull twice in a row; the door then opens mechanically.
Anyway, not the most riveting subjective I’ve covered as a writer. But I always find it interesting when smart engineering and eloquent design produce something new and helpful. As so my hats off to Lexus engineers who are trying to improve the lives of those with mobility issues and the safety of our roads.
Photographs by Michael S. Palmer & Lexus USA
