China to ban 'hidden' car door handles to address safety fears

China will ban 'hidden' car door handles from 2027, becoming the first country to phase out a design pioneered by Tesla and adopted by Chinese competitors including Xiaomi.

The hidden handle design, which functions through a key fob or mobile phone or by manually pressing it, has drawn scrutiny in both the United States and China over potential safety risks.

Last year, the U.S. auto safety agency opened a defect probe into Tesla Model 3 sedan's emergency door release controls. Tesla, which did not comment on the investigation at the time, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday (3 February).

China's industry ministry said on Monday that under its new safety technical requirements, every car door should be equipped with both exterior and interior handles.

Mechanical release designs will be mandatory, with innovations such as electrical handles optional.

China's new policy sets out rules for where handles must be located on the outside of a car and how they should function to ensure that they can be opened in the event of an accident. It also requires interior handles to be clearly visible.

New vehicle models must align their door handle design with the new regulation from 1 January 2027 while approved models will come under the rules by 1 January 2029, the ministry said.

Chinese state media reported in October that the driver of a Xiaomi SU7 Ultra sedan died in an accident after passers-by were unable to open the door to pull him out of the burning vehicle.

Xiaomi, which has not commented publicly on the incident, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.