China is to ban “hidden” or retractable car door handles from 2027, making it the first country to target the feature found in many electric vehicles (EVs).
The design, which functions through a key fob or mobile phone or by manually pressing it, has raised concerns in a number of countries over potential safety risks.
Now, new rules announced by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, will require all cars to have both interior and exterior mechanical releases.
New vehicles must apply with the regulations from 1 January 2027, while models already approved will have another two years to comply.
While the handles can make a car more aerodynamic and sleek-looking, regulators are concerned that they could be inoperable in an accident.
In October, Chinese state media reported 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 is yet to comment on the incident.
What do you think?
While it is hard to get a clear sense of how many deaths and accidents can be attributed to these handles, similar concerns have been raised in Europe and the US previously.
Tesla is under investigation by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after some Model Y owners said their children had been trapped inside due to failing door handles, Business Insider has reported.
Elon Musk’s company is also facing a lawsuit by an owner of a 2014-2016 Model S in Florida, who said the “flush” door handles “routinely fail” after only a few years of use, posing a “significant safety risk”.
Tesla has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, while Franz von Holzhausen, the company’s chief designer, told Bloomberg in September 2025 that Tesla was working to combine the electronic and manual door-release mechanisms to make them more intuitive for occupants in “a panic situation.”
While some Tesla models do feature a small pulley under the passenger door that acts as a manual release, some experts have said features like this can be hard to operate in emergencies.
But what do you think? Let us know in the polls below:
Have you personally experienced any issues with retractable door handles? Would they stop you from buying a particular model of car? Do you like the way they look? Have your say and your comment may be featured in our results article on Friday.
While this issue does not appear to have attracted as much concern in the UK, yet, it has in mainland Europe.
In September last year the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) called for “urgent action” on the risks posed by electronically activated car doors.
The organisation referred to a crash and fire in Germany where two children and their father died reportedly after being trapped inside a burning Tesla.
“The problem extends beyond one brand,” ETSC added, warning that electrically activated doors are becoming “increasingly common across vehicle types” and that UN and EU regulations include no requirements to ensure they can be opened in emergencies.
Tesla have had bad press about its electronic door handles in recent months, but it is not the only brand to use them.
(IMAGO/Michael Bihlmayer, Imago)
Research carried out for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) raises similar concerns.
“In real-world crashes, retractable door handles may not open (or pop out, respectively) automatically due to loss of electric power”, the experts said.
Referring to emergency levers included in the interior of some EVs, the researchers added: “Instructions in owner‘s manuals, in emergency response guides or printed on deployed window airbags are no practical solution at an early stage of rescue.”
Yahoo has contacted Tesla for comment.
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