China has banned hidden retractable car door handles. How are they dangerous – and will Australia follow their lead?
They used to be a novelty in Australia: the futuristic, flush-mounted car door handles favoured by Elon Musk’s Tesla.However while the design – popularised with the Tesla Model S in 2012 and since adopted by other manufacturers – might look sleek, it may not be great in an emergency.After several deadly high-profile accidents involving different makes and models, in which power failings saw people trapped inside the vehicle, China has announced a world-first ban on hidden or retractable electric car door handles.But with less than six months to go before the ban is implemented, and domestic demand for electric vehicles booming, experts say it’s time for Australia to adopt the same precautions.What is changing?While hidden door handles are used by car manufacturers around the world, they are particularly popular in China. As of April 2026, about 60% of the country’s 100 bestselling “new-energy vehicles” – EVs, hybrids or fuel cell-powered cars – had them, according to the China Daily.From 1 January 2027, all new cars sold in China will be required to have a mechanical release on both the inside and outside of every door except the boot, according to regulations announced in February by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.Under the changes, on the outside of every door there must be a recessed space measuring at least 6cm by 2cm by 2.5cm for a hand to grasp the handle and manually open the door. On the inside, there must be signs showing occupants how to manually open the door.The ban will apply to both press-to-release hidden handles and electrical pop-out or retractable handles, Bloomsberg reported.The idea is that people will be able to open a car from the inside or outside in an emergency, even if the handle has lost power.Some manufacturers whose new models have already been approved for sale have been given a two-year grace period to update their designs.Tesla had already flagged design changes. In September last year, the company’s chief of design, Franz von Holzhausen, told Bloomberg it was looking to combine the electronic and manual door-release mechanisms, to make them more intuitive for occupants in “a panic situation”.What does this mean for Australia?Australia imports all its cars, and there has been a recent influx of Chinese-made EVs due to their relative affordability.“About 60% of all new vehicles sold in Australia are made in China but that’s because they’re very good at making cars now, and Australians love a bargain,” says Chris Jones from the Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA).Every car in the Top 10 EVs sold in May this year was primarily built in China, with manufacturers Tesla, Jaecoo, Geely, BYD and Zeekr behind the top models, according to Carsguide.Jones says the Chinese ban won’t extend to flush mounted door handles that can still be operated manually, which are the kind typically seen in Australia, so the ban may not apply to models currently popular in the country.However, Jones says it’s a good time to reconsider the Australian Design Rules – the national standards governing vehicle safety, anti-theft and emissions.“I think there is a perfectly reasonable case to mandate a manual mechanism on both inside and outside the vehicle for front and rear doors,” he says.“The Chinese government has recognised this flaw and the potential for disaster when extracting casualties from a crash, so are regulating accordingly.”What are the rules in Australia now?A spokesperson for the transport minister, Catherine King, says all road vehicles, including EVs, must have doors that can be opened without the use of tools. In practice, this means all car door must be operational by hand.Although vehicles are tested for this function after both side and frontal impact crashes, this only applies to the outdoor handles as “there is usually no way to test the internal door handle following a crash test” using a dummy.King’s spokesperson says the government has provided the independent safety assessor Ancap with $16.3m in funding over 5 years to increase their door handle assessment as part of their Star Safety Rating Program.Carla Hoorweg, the Ancap chief executive officer, says the Australian Design Rules haven’t kept up with technology and don’t prescribe enough detail.“That’s what we want to make sure the rules are really clear on – that there has to be a manual override from the inside and the outside,” she says. “It’s both, so that occupants can get out and so first responders can get into the vehicle.“The objective is reducing the risk of entrapment after a crash.”Guardian Australia has contacted Tesla for comment.Will cars banned in China be “dumped” in Australia?The issue made headlines again earlier this month after the peak body for car and truck dealers – the Australian Automotive Dealers’ Association – released a report warning of the “risk of stock dumping following China’s approach to EVs with flush door handles”.While cars rejected by the Chinese are unlikely to be literally “dumped” here – their steering wheels would be on the wrong side for Australian roads – Hoorweg says there is a risk that cars with less safe door handles could end up being sold here.“If there’s a lot of door handles floating around and they’re cheap because they can’t sell them in China, what are you going to do with them?” she says.
