China bans all retractable automobile door handles, beginning subsequent 12 months

The locking mechanism must be designed so that, in a crash that results in airbags deploying or a battery fire, doors on the non-impact side can be opened without tools. Chinese regulators are just as concerned that a vehicle’s occupants don’t get confused about how to open a door from the inside in an emergency. So each door must have mechanical releases where an occupant would expect to find them.

Again, Tesla is probably the worst offender—its front doors have always had mechanical handles, but for some model years, the rears could not be opened without tools.

For cars already approved by the Chinese government (which includes everything currently on sale), there’s a grace period. For existing designs, automakers have until January 1, 2029, to redesign their doors, and due to the specificity of the rules, that group of automakers is much larger than just Tesla. Xiaomi, which seems to be China’s most-hyped EV brand, will have to redesign some models, but BMW will, too—the rather good iX3 that will go on sale there soon will also need a redesign. The same goes for cars from Nio, Li Auto, and Xpeng.

And unless there are exemptions for low volume, I would imagine that most supercars from OEMs like Ferrari and McLaren will need new doors for the all-important Chinese market. Indeed, given China’s importance to the car industry, we should expect this ban’s impact to be widely felt on any model sold globally. The benefit should be clear: fewer car occupants dying after being trapped in their cars.