Genesis GV90 rescues the suicide doors — and solves the problem that made the industry abandon them

Genesis presented the GV90, an electric SUV that takes over the top of the line position of the South Korean brand and arrives at dealerships in 2027. The model debuts the eMP electric architecture, with 666 hp and 81,6 kgfm, but what separates it from the competition is on the side: the rear doors open in the opposite direction to the conventional, with no B-pillar between them.

These are the so-called suicide doors — a nickname that the industry has been trying to retire in favor of coach doors, or carriage doors. Genesis named the system Neolun Arch Gate, a reference to the concept that originated the car.

Why almost no one does it

The solution is older than the automobile: it came from horse-drawn carriages and was inherited by the first cars. The problem appeared with speed: without seat belts and with rudimentary locks, a poorly closed door was blown open by the wind itself, and the passenger had to lean out of the moving car to reach it. Hence the macabre nickname.

The final blow came in 1965, when lawyer Ralph Nader listed the device among the unsafe items in Unsafe at Any Speed, the book that founded modern vehicle safety regulation in the United States. From then on, the hinged rear doors practically disappeared from the assembly lines.

In Brazil, they had their phase: the DKW-Vemag Belcar used them in the front until 1964, when they were changed for safety reasons. More recently, the first generation of the Fiat Strada double cab brought an inverted tailgate on the right side, between 2013 and 2020.

The game-changing

detailThe Strada ran into the classic problem of shape: the rear door only opened after the front. This is also what happens in the Rolls-Royce Ghost and the old BMW i3. Without a B-pillar, one door locks into the other, and the opening order becomes a mechanical imposition.

That’s exactly where the GV90 excels. Front and rear open simultaneously and in any order, without prior unlocking. The trick is in the movement: the tailgate slides out before turning, which requires a considerable volume of mechanisms housed on the side of the car. A prototype spotted last year ran with the wheel arch panel removed, exposing the apparatus.

The rigidity lost with the absence of the B-pillar was compensated by a frame that surrounds the cabin and is 50% thicker than that of conventional vehicles. Genesis claims that the SUV behaves like a B-pillar model in side impacts and used aluminum in the floor to mitigate the extra weight, not yet disclosed.

The rest of the package follows the boldness: 123.5 kWh battery, estimated range of 499 km in the North American cycle, glass roof with its own airbag against splinters in rollovers, headlights formed only by LED strips and no instrument panel — everything is projected on the windshield. Price and release date remain open. Genesis does not operate in Brazil.