China is set to ban concealed door handles on electric vehicles (EVs) from January 1, 2025. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced new rules mandating mechanical release mechanisms on both the inside and outside of every door except the boot. "The new regulations will improve the level of automotive safety design," the ministry said. These concealed handles, first made popular by Tesla's 2012 Model S, use electrical signals to open the door and are flush with the car’s surface. While they help reduce wind drag slightly, they have caused several deadly accidents worldwide. In these crashes, power failures trapped occupants inside the car because there was no manual door release. In China, about 60% of the top 100 bestselling new energy vehicles — including EVs and hybrids — use these flush door handles. With the new rules, all future cars must have hand-operable space of at least 6cm by 2cm by 2.5cm to open doors manually. There must also be clear signs inside cars showing how to open doors. Some existing vehicles close to launching will get a two-year grace period to update their designs. China’s move follows several tragic incidents, including a fatal fire in Chengdu where bystanders could not open the doors of Xiaomi’s SU7 EV to rescue the driver. In the US, Tesla faces a lawsuit after a 2024 crash that killed three passengers locked inside a Cybertruck because its electric doors stopped working during the fire. China, the world’s biggest EV market, is forcing a major safety upgrade that will affect many manufacturers. Last year, Chinese automaker BYD sold more EVs than Tesla for the first time, reflecting China’s rising influence in the global electric car business.