China to ban hidden car door handles from 2027 over safety concerns

Hong Kong — China will ban hidden car door handles, commonly used in Tesla electric vehicles and many other electric vehicle models, starting next year.

All car doors must include a mechanical handle release function, except the tailgate, according to details released by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Officials said the policy is intended to address safety concerns after fatal electric vehicle crashes in which electronic doors reportedly malfunctioned and trapped passengers inside the vehicles.

The new requirement for internal and external door handles will come into effect on January 1, 2027. For car models that have already been approved, manufacturers will have until January 1, 2029 to make design changes to comply with the regulations.

Vehicles such as Tesla’s Model Y and Model 3, BMW’s iX3 and other models from many Chinese brands feature retractable door handles that could be subject to the new rules.

Chris Liu, senior analyst at Shanghai-based technology research and advisory group Omdia, said the global impact of China’s new rules could be substantial and other jurisdictions could follow suit on retractable door handles. Automakers will face potentially costly redesigns or modernizations.

“China is the first major auto market to explicitly ban hidden door handles that open and unlock electrically,” he said. “While other regions have flagged security concerns, China is the first to formalize this into a national security standard.”

Regulators in Europe and elsewhere are likely to reference or align with China’s approach, Liu said. The new requirements would affect premium EVs the most, as retractable door handles “are treated as a design and aerodynamic statement,” he added.

In September, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released a draft of the proposed rules for public comment.

Last year, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a Investigation into cases where Tesla’s electronic door handles It supposedly didn’t work.