China Prohibits Hidden Electric Door Handles on Electric Vehicles

China is set to prohibit Tesla-style concealed door handles on electric vehicles due to safety concerns about individuals becoming trapped inside their cars. This regulation will come into effect on January 1st next year, as announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. It mandates that all vehicles sold in China must feature mechanical release door handles both inside and outside.

The focus of the ban is on hidden handles that retract to align flush with the vehicle doors, a design trend popularized by Tesla and adopted by various other electric vehicle manufacturers. Reports indicate that over 60 percent of the top 100 hybrid and electric vehicles sold in China in April 2025 were equipped with these concealed handles.

These new regulations were proposed in December of the previous year, following multiple reports of individuals struggling to open vehicles with electronically operated door handles during emergencies. A notable incident involved a fatal collision with a Xiaomi SU7 Ultra in Chengdu, where the electronic door handle system failed after the impact, trapping the driver inside as the vehicle caught fire.

In the US, Tesla’s electronic door handles are also under scrutiny for similar safety issues, with investigations revealing that they can lock occupants inside the vehicle. The company is working on redesigning these handles to integrate both electronic and manual release mechanisms into a single button. A Bloomberg investigation from September last year uncovered over 140 reports in the US regarding Tesla doors becoming stuck since 2018.