HONG KONG (AP) 鈥� China will ban hidden door handles on cars, commonly used on , starting next year.
All car doors must include a mechanical release function for handles, except for the tailgate, according to details released by China鈥檚 Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Monday.
Officials said the policy aims to address safety concerns after fatal EV accidents where electronic doors reportedly failed to operate and trapped passengers inside vehicles.
The new requirement for both internal and external door handles will take effect on Jan. 1, 2027. For car models that were already approved, carmakers will have until Jan. 1, 2029, to make design changes to match the regulations.
Vehicles including Tesla鈥檚 Model Y and Model 3, BMW鈥檚 iX3, and other models by many Chinese brands feature retractable car door handles that could be subject to the new rules.
Chris Liu, a Shanghai-based senior analyst at technology research and advisory group Omdia, said the global impact of China’s new rules could be substantial and other jurisdictions may follow suit on retractable door handles. Carmakers will be facing potentially costly redesigns or retrofits.
鈥淐hina is the first major automotive market to explicitly ban electrical pop-out and press-to-release hidden door handles,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hile other regions have flagged safety concerns, China is the first to formalize this into a national safety standard.鈥�
It’s likely that regulators in Europe and elsewhere will reference or align with China鈥檚 approach, Liu said. The new requirements would impact premium EVs more as retractable door handles 鈥渁re treated as a design and aerodynamic statement,鈥� he added.
A draft of the proposed rules was published by China鈥檚 Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in September for public comment.
Last year, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into cases where Tesla鈥檚 electronic door handles reportedly failed to work.
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