China Bans Flush Exterior Door Handles and Electronic Door Releases

China is the first country in the world to ban cars made with flush exterior door handles citing safety reason for the ban.

Flush door handles are popular on electric cars and sports cars for improved aerodynamics, but they’re also favoured by car designers as they don’t break the lines of the car, unlike more traditional door handles.

Flush door handle from a Tesla Model 3

However, China goes one further by banning cars that only have electronic door releases, and mandating that there must be a manual door release on the outside as well as the inside of the car.

Reports of drivers being trapped in their cars when the power has failed highlights the risk in depending solely on electronics. Although it doesn’t outright ban electronic door releases, cars must be fitted with a mechanical, manual override.

Electronic release (top) and mechanical release (bottom)

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that “the inconvenience with operating exterior door handles and their inability to open after an accident” as the main concern.

The Ministry’s guidance is for door handles to have enough space to operate its mechanical release from any angle should be “clearly visible from the corresponding occupant’s position”.

Manufacturers now have 11 months to develop and implement the necessary changes to their vehicles with the new law coming into effect on 01 January 2027.

This could also impact cars destined for the U.K. and wider as it’s unlikely manufacturers will develop different production processes for stamping doors for the Chinese domestic market only.

However, there is merit for electronic door releases as well, with Tesla being well-known for automatically activating and releasing the doors and boot/trunk, the moment the detects it is submerged in water, allowing for occupants to escape where normally they could be trapped under water.

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About the Author

Graeme Cobb is a lifelong car enthusiast with a passion for writing about cars, EVs, industry updates and more. You can find Graeme on 𝕏 at @graeme_cobb or YouTube @REV-EV.