China has officially implemented new regulations banning retractable and electric door handles in new vehicles sold in the country, according to Bloomberg.
While automakers argued that the change helped with the car’s aerodynamics, China examined the increasing failures in the system, particularly in cases of collisions.
It turns out that, as the door handles are hidden inside the doors, emergency services began reporting difficulties in reaching the driver and passengers for rescue after accidents.
At the same time, there were reports of initially non-fatal accidents that later resulted in the death of occupants who could not open the door handles after collisions that caused fires and electrical failures in the vehicle.
Aware of this, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology implemented new regulations requiring automakers to incorporate a mechanical release for the doors, both inside and outside.
The rule will officially take effect on January 1, 2027. For vehicles that have already been approved for sale in China and are about to be launched, manufacturers have been given some leeway and will not have to change their designs until January 2029.
This ban prohibits two types of door handles: retractable and electric. Retractable handles are those that hide inside the doors and can be used with a push-to-release design. This type of handle is found in many modern electric vehicles, such as the Tesla Model Y.
China has also banned electric door handles, which extend from the body by themselves, like those in the Kia EV9. There has also been regulation on semi-hidden handles, where the handle is flush with the body but has a cavity underneath to insert the fingers.
The new rule specifies that there must be an embedded space of at least 2.4 inches by 0.8 inches where a person’s hand can grip the handle. The law also requires that vehicles have signage inside to indicate how to open the door.
Photos: Unsplash / Mercedes-Benz. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
