Hidden door handles face ban over safety fears

China is moving to ban hidden door handles to remove potential risks associated with the feature widely found in new energy vehicles and even some gasoline models.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published a draft mandatory national standard on Wednesday, which among other things requires all car doors except the tailgate to have exterior handles.

The purpose is to enhance the safety performance of car door handles, continuously improve China's overall vehicle safety, support the development of passive safety technologies, and protect people's lives, said the ministry.

It is stipulated in the draft that car doors should provide at least 60 millimeters by 20 mm by 25 mm of hand-operable space, and to include a mechanical release function. The ministry is seeking public comment before finalizing the rule.

The proposal, if implemented, will effectively ban fully flush, electronically actuated door handles — a design Tesla helped popularize and that has since become a hallmark of NEVs.

These handles sit flush with the body and extend only when activated. They were designed to cut air drag to extend NEVs' mileage and also give cars a futuristic look.

An Aion engineer told local media that hidden door handles can increase range by 5-10 kilometers.

However, they have raised questions about emergency access. There have been reports that in some accidents rescuers cannot open the doors of electric vehicles, with the latest one involving a Xiaomi SU7 in March.

The draft standard mandates that every passenger door, excluding the tailgate, be equipped with an exterior handle capable of opening the door without tools even if the locking system remains engaged or the vehicle's battery catches fire.

Some industry groups and engineers have long warned that hidden handles can jam or fail during collisions, fires, or power outages, complicating rescue efforts.

"Sensors are often located at the front of the door; if they're damaged in a crash, the handle may not pop out," a domestic carmaker's engineer told National Business Daily.

Great Wall Motor Chairman Wei Jianjun has also criticized the design as unreliable.

Yet hidden handles are widespread in China's NEV market. About 60 percent of the top 100 selling NEVs in April featured them, according to public data.

Some heavyweight SUVs this year, including the Nio ES8, Li Auto i8, Xiaomi YU7, and the XPeng P7 sedan all feature such handles.

Dealers say many buyers are drawn to the futuristic look but some other buyers, especially older ones, are looking for models that have conventional door handles.

Automakers have expressed their willingness to comply with the standard although they face a costly redesign.

A Toyota body engineer told the National Business Daily the company is preparing mechanical backups inside hidden handles to comply with the new rule.

Geely, which was involved in the drafting of the new standard, said it has different technical solutions. Leapmotor said it will strictly follow the new rule.

The proposal sets a transition period: new models applying for type approval are to meet the standard within seven months of its adoption, and for models that have won approval, 19 months.

The phased timeline aims to balance urgent safety needs with automakers' development cycles, said analysts.