China no longer wants cars with retractable door handles, which are used on many cars to increase the vehicle’s aerodynamics.
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has released a draft update to automotive safety standards that introduces a ban on this type of handle on passenger vehicles starting January 1, 2027.
The proposal concerns vehicles with a maximum mass of less than 3.5 tonnes and is part of a broader package of requirements intended to review the design methods of door opening systems. According to the provisions of the text, all cars must be equipped, both inside and outside, with handles with a mechanical emergency opening mechanism capable of functioning even in the absence of electrical power or in the presence of damage resulting from an accident, so as to guarantee the opening of the doors in critical situations.
The draft legislation also defines criteria relating to the positioning of the handles, the force required to operate them, the safety markings and the behavior of the mechanisms when the vehicle is not powered. The objective indicated by the regulator is that the use of the doors remains intuitive even for people unfamiliar with the vehicle, in conditions where the electronic interfaces may not function. The concerns that led to the proposed ban are linked to a series of serious crashes that have called into question the effectiveness of electrically operated retractable handles in allowing occupants to exit the vehicle or rescuers to access them after a collision.
In short, the obligation to integrate a mechanical opening mechanism concerns all handles, both external and internal, to prevent loss of power or damage resulting from an accident from making it impossible to enter or exit the vehicle. In previous evaluations, the authorities had also considered the possibility of allowing only semi-concealed handles equipped with a reliable physical opening device, instead excluding fully retractable solutions without mechanical redundancy.
If the draft is finalized within the expected deadlines, the ban on retractable electric handles will come into force at the beginning of 2027, with a transition period designed to allow manufacturers to adapt their models to the new technical requirements.
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