Concealed door handle ban to boost safety

As the first country to ban concealed door handles on passenger vehicles, China is expected to further secure driving safety while reinforcing its growing role in shaping global automotive safety standards, industry experts said.

Their comments follow a mandatory national standard on automotive door handle safety, which is expected to come into force on Jan 1, 2027, announced the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Monday.

Rong Hui, a senior expert of automotive standards at the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, said the new standard focuses on three key areas: requirements for door handle operation space and placement, mandatory mechanical release functions for both interior and exterior handles to support escape and rescue in accidents, and technical and testing requirements to ensure door handle functionality in the event of a loss of power.

According to the standard, each vehicle door — excluding the tailgate — must be fitted with a mechanical exterior handle. After an accident, a door on the non-impact side must be able to be opened via the exterior handle without the use of tools. In addition, the exterior handle of each door must provide a minimum hand operation space of 60 millimeters by 20 mm by 25 mm in any state.

To prevent occupants from being unable to locate interior door handles in emergency situations, the standard also requires that interior door handles with mechanical release functions be easily identifiable by vehicle occupants.

The implementation will follow a phased timeline, starting with newly approved vehicle models which are required to fully comply by Jan 1, 2028. Models that have already received approval will be required to meet all standard requirements by Jan 1, 2029, the MIIT said.

For automakers, the new standard is expected to have a direct impact on product development.

Zhou Jie, senior director of door system development at Li Auto, said the standard offers practical guidance for door handle design and research and development, helping promote product iteration and upgrades.

"By clarifying safety design directions and standardizing safety system development principles, it provides automakers with a unified, rigorous and effective basis and reference for door handle safety development and testing," Zhou said.

The standard will also help automakers strike a better balance between styling and safety from the product definition stage onward, ensuring that safety considerations run throughout the entire development process, said Zhou Dayong, assistant dean of Geely Automotive's research institute, adding, "Future development of safety-related components such as door handles will also be based on this standard, with stronger validation under extreme conditions, supporting effective implementation and helping China's automotive safety practices go global."

The significance of the new requirements also goes beyond safety alone — it also reflects a shift in China's role from a technology follower to a rule-setter in vehicle safety standards, said a foreign expert.

"China is shifting from being just the largest EV (electric vehicle) market to being a rule-setter for how relevant technologies are regulated," said Bill Russo, founder of Shanghai-based consultancy Automobility, as quoted by Bloomberg.

"By moving first, Beijing can use its huge domestic market to lock in safety standards that both Chinese and foreign automakers must follow at home — and that may ultimately travel with Chinese EV exports and influence global norms," Russo said.

The country's move is echoed by global counterparts. In September last year, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced it had opened an investigation into about 174,000 Tesla Model Y vehicles, followed by another probe covering roughly 179,000 Model 3 cars from the 2022 model year, according to NHTSA filings.

In Europe, the Netherlands Vehicle Authority, which inspects and approves Tesla vehicles for sale in the European Union, also said in October that European regulators would strengthen rules to ensure occupants can safely exit vehicles after an accident and be rescued by first responders.