China announced a ban on electric and retractive door handles starting next year after assessing an increased risk of accidents associated with the features.
The decision announced by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) will apply to new vehicles starting January 1, 2027. Cars already in production will be given 25 months to comply with the new regulations.
As a result of this new policy, vehicles weighing under 3.5 tons must be equipped with a mechanical opening system, both from the inside and outside.
In addition, the new regulations also emphasize that “sufficient manual operating space must be provided against the surface of the vehicle body to operate the mechanical release function.”
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Retractive and electric door handles have gained great popularity in recent years and have become a common feature on various electric cars with a minimalist design, such as vehicles from Tesla And BYD.
However, this issue has emerged as the number of fatal accidents increases where rescue teams cannot quickly access vehicle occupants due to difficulty opening the doors.
On many vehicles, these door handles rely entirely on electric motors to operate and are not equipped with mechanical emergency mechanisms, which can hinder driver and passenger evacuation following a collision that affects the vehicle’s electrical system.
It should be emphasized that this ban in China will impact all electric car manufacturers, including Chinese manufacturers, BYD. However, among all of them, the party most affected is Teslabecause all of the manufacturer’s electric vehicles use retractive door handles.
In other words, if Tesla Looking to continue operating in China—one of its most important markets—from next year the company will need to start considering design changes that include physical door handles as well as reliable mechanical door opening systems on its models.
On the other hand, as highlighted by the site Mashablechallenge Tesla may not just be limited to China. Recently, regulatory authorities in the United States have also begun evaluating the safety risks of these types of door handles. This means that in the near future, a similar ban may also be implemented in the United States.
Photo: Unsplash. This content is created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
