Tesla-style door handles banned over safety fears

Retractable and flush-fitting door handles will be banned in China from 1 January 2027. The move has been prompted by safety concerns over occupants not being able to exit a vehicle in an emergency.

This scenario has already had fatal consequences. Tesla has been the target of lawsuits in America, with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) supplying details for Bloomberg’s ongoing investigation into the deaths of at least 15 people in vehicles from the brand where electrically operated doors didn’t open after crashes. 

And in China, car maker Xiaomi was also scrutinised in 2025 after a driver died as a result of not being able to exit his SU7 following a crash. 

The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MITT) announced in September last year that it had conducted research into the safety of electrically operated door handles on over 230 models, and after a public consultation, the Government has now stepped in with a ban. 

The new rules specifically state that vehicles weighing less than 3.5 tonnes must be equipped with physical interior and exterior car door handles that include a mechanical emergency opening function. This is to avoid the possibility of door handles losing power, thereby trapping occupants inside or stopping emergency services entering the vehicle in the event of a collision. 

MITT has issued technical requirements for door handles, stating cars “shall have at least one mechanically released interior door handle. The interior door handle shall be easily identifiable by occupants”. 

The requirements also state that “when the exterior door handle is in any position, there should be sufficient hand operating space relative to the vehicle body surface for operating the mechanical release function”. There has to be a specific distance of no more than 300mm from the door’s edge for the handle to be mounted.

The ban on electric door handles and flush-fitting handles could have a knock-on effect outside the Chinese market, which is the largest in the world. Designing and manufacturing cars with two different sets of door handles, which car makers would effectively have to do to comply with the Chinese regulations, is a cost that many may not want to absorb. 

Retractable, electrically operated door handles are common in the automotive world. Mercedes, Porsche, DS and many more European marques use them, and as they are proven to lower drag coefficients, they’ve become a popular feature on electric cars. 

Every Tesla model features them, although the firm’s Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen said in 2025 that the American company would have a solution for China’s upcoming ban.

China’s implementation of the ban will start from 2027 for new vehicles, while cars already in production will have a further 25 months to comply with the new regulations.

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