China’s Big Change: Mandating NEW Door Handles on Electric Cars
China is doing something very very interesting. It is changing regulations on door handles. I think it’s actually a good change. And personally, I’m not a big fan of overregulating everything, which is what we do globally. Regulate, regulate, regulate. But in this instance, I think this change makes a lot of sense. I think a lot of you will agree with me. Some of you might not, but I think most of you will. Hello, my friends. Welcome to the channel. I’m Sam Evans. You’re watching The Electric Viking. YouTube’s new algorithm means that you’re often not getting all of our videos in your feed. There’s 7,500. I’m pretty sure you’re probably not seeing a lot of them. In the description, there is a link to our newsletter. Click on that and you can get an update every day of all the latest news in the electric car industry. China is about to well it’s relieved draft mandatory national standards for car door handle safety which is interesting timing considering what’s happened with Tesla. Tesla’s actually redesigning their door handles as well. I suspect the Chinese government has has told automakers in China that it is going to have some regulations for door handles and Tesla’s probably trying to get ahead of that in order to be able to meet these regulations. These regulations address concerns about newer electronic and concealed door handle designs. The technical requirements for automobile door handle safety released for public comment on September the 24th will remain open for feedback until November 22, 2025. The document says the standards are aiming to regulate new electric concealed door handles and address emerging safety needs. The initiative seeks to establish safety baselines which while guiding manufacturers to improve door handle design and overall vehicle standards. Now, interestingly, the door handles on my existing car, the XP G6, and the car that I’ve just bought, the Zika 7X allwheel drive, will both be illegal. Um, technically they would be illegal under these new standards. Here’s what they’re proposing. Every door, excluding trunk lids, must feature an external handle with mechanical release functionality. So that applies, I believe, to the inside and the outside of the car. In case of accidents involving battery thermal events, non-colision side doors must be openable through external handles without tools. Most EVs, well, not most, but many of them, you can’t do that with them. You can do it on the inside. Yeah, there’s like manual door levers that you can pull on the inside if the uh door handle has an issue, the the digital door handle has an issue, but from the outside, I don’t think that’s an option on most EVs with flush door handles. Now, flush door handles are really good because they definitely improve efficiency of EVs, but they’re usually digital. And I can tell you now, sometimes they are a pain in the butt. They can be sometimes the app doesn’t work properly and you know you got your phone near the car and it’s meant to open the handles and you can’t pull the handle cuz it’s not recognized. But anyway, they can also malfunction. It’s possible. So I think this idea of enabling some kind of mechanical way of opening them is probably a good idea. It says this as well. External door handles must provide adequate hand operation space of at least 60 mm by 20 mm by 25 mm regardless of handle position. So that’s what um 2 1/2 in by 1 in x 1 in essentially. Every door must include internal handles with mechanical release capability that can open doors without external tools. If electric internal handles handles are installed, mechanical backup handles must also be provided. Internal handles must be easily identifiable, clearly visible, positioned within 30 cm or 300 mm of door edges. That’s just over 1 in, and located within specific zones relative to setting positions. Now, that last one, in my opinion, it’s a bit too regulated. I don’t really agree with that, having to have one within an inch of the actual door edge. That’s quite extreme. I think that they should get rid of that one. But everything else here I think basically does make sense. In an interview with Chinese newspaper CN Auto News, Ron Hoie, deputy director of the China Automotive Standardization Research Institute, explained that the standards were developed through extensive research involving over 20 companies and 63 vehicle models. The requirements address industry pain points while balancing technological advancement with safety concerns. With the development of automotive electrification, electric concealed door handles have been widely adopted and the operation methods and structural types of door handle products on the market are increasingly diverse, said wrong. These standards aim to respond to new technologies and safety requirements. The standards focus on three key areas. Regulating door handle structural types, ensuring release methods, maintain functionality during power loss, and standardizing handle placement with clear safety markings. The MIIT conducted comprehensive research on more than 230 different vehicles uh where their handles were configured, how they performed, and tested them on, I believe, 20 different models as well. So, 230 different vehicle models tested. Industry experts from over 100 domestic and international vehicle manufacturers, part suppliers, and testing institutions participated in the standards development process. So, it sounds like the Chinese government has actually uh basically collaborated with all their different automotive companies to work out these standards, which is probably a good thing. Now, Carnage China had this to say. In 2012, the Tesla Model S was the first car to make electronically controlled pop out flush door handle standard, complemented by inductive automatic pop out and streamlined designs flush with the car body, which was good for aerodynamics. Obviously, this instantly became a symbol of technological sophistication and futuristic appeal subsequently emulated by numerous car manufacturers. Now, I don’t believe that car manufacturers primarily emulated the design just because of futuristic appeal. That might have been part of it, but I think the biggest reason is because they were trying to improve their aerodynamic efficiency. This is what they always talk about in China. What is the CD of your car? What is it? Oh, it’s 2.1. Oh, it’s 2.2. 2 odds 2.112. This is what they really focus on much more so than futuristic appeal of door handles. But that is a factor as well. This design is now backfiring says Carne China on vehicles due to safety and reliability issues as the door handles rely entirely on electric motors and software control. Passengers could become trapped inside if there’s a power failure, a system crash or if they freeze in winter. Multiple incidents of children trapped requiring requiring window smashing have prompted regulatory investigations. In September 2025, Tesla’s chief designer France von Holhausen publicly admitted the company is redesigning the door handle system to make mechanical opening in emergencies more direct and more reliable. The Sydney EV International Motor Show. If you want to get a 50% discount on your tickets, all you got to do click the link in the description and use the promotion code that’s in the description. Just copy and paste that. Now, I should mention there’s only 200 tickets available per day. So, if you go to use the promo code and you can’t get a ticket, wait till the next day. Don’t wait until the day before the show to get your tickets cuz otherwise you’ll probably miss out on getting the 50% discount. [Music]
China’s Big Change: Mandating NEW Door Handles on Electric Cars
China has announced new regulations requiring electric vehicles to adopt redesigned door handles, aiming to improve safety, durability, and user experience. The move signals stricter standards for EV manufacturing and design across the country.
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👇Reference to the news/charts & videos used in this video:
New safety requirements for vehicle door handles released for public comment in China
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