One of the design features that has become synonymous with Tesla has been banned in China.
Door handles on cars sold in the country must have mechanical releases under new safety regulations announced by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Monday. The new rules, which go into effect on January 1, 2027, will ban the electronically operated hidden door handles popularized by Tesla and now installed in many other electric cars in China.
The new regulations state that each door (excluding the tailgate) must be equipped with a mechanically released external door handle. The vehicle must have a mechanical release inside the vehicle. Bloomberg previously reported on the new safety policy.
A number of high-profile fatal crashes in which occupants were trapped in vehicles have raised concerns among safety regulators and safety advocacy groups around the world. China was the first country to issue a ban.
A Bloomberg investigation last September revealed problems with hidden door handles in Tesla cars, citing several crashes where first responders and occupants were unable to open the door because the electronic door locks did not receive enough power from the vehicle’s battery system to operate properly. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration then began investigating defects in certain Tesla Model Y and Model 3 door handles. Tesla has a manual release in the car, but federal investigators noted that this release is difficult for children to access and many owners may not be aware of its existence. Some U.S. lawmakers are proposing regulations that would require manual door releases on all new cars.
Last year, Chinese regulators proposed changes to EV door handles after fatal crashes involving Xiaomi’s SU7 electric sedan in China.
The Chinese government started this process in May 2025, with more than 40 domestic automakers, parts suppliers, and testing institutes participating in the initial investigation. According to the Chinese government’s Standardization Bureau, more than 100 industry experts held multiple rounds of discussions to decide on the standard framework and form a draft standard that will become the safety technical requirements regulations for automobile door handles.
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Among them were dozens of automakers, including Chinese companies such as BYD, Geely Holding, SAIC, and Xiaomi, as well as foreign automakers such as General Motors, Ford, Hyundai, Nissan, Porsche, Toyota, and Volkswagen. However, Tesla is not listed as the official “author” of the draft, according to information posted on the standards bureau’s website.
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