China has officially introduced a ban on electronic retractable door handles in electric vehicles, becoming the first country in the world to impose such strict requirements on EV door design. The new rules will take effect on January 1, 2027, and will require automakers to install mechanical door handles both on the exterior and inside electric models sold on the Chinese market.<\/p>\n
Notably, the new regulations apply exclusively to electric vehicles. Cars with internal combustion engines, even if they also use electronically operated door handles, are not subject to the ban.<\/p>\n
The new requirements are extremely specific. Exterior door handles must have a physical recess measuring at least 60\u00d720 mm to ensure they can be securely grasped even after a serious accident. Inside the cabin, door-opening mechanisms must be clearly marked with visible instructions, and their placement must be standardized. At the same time, manufacturers are prohibited from relying solely on electronic systems, even if those systems are equipped with backup batteries or mechanical cables.<\/p>\n
The changes will affect a huge number of models. Estimates suggest that as recently as spring, about 60% of the 100 best-selling electric vehicles in China used hidden or retractable door handles. These include the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, the upcoming BMW iX3 for the Chinese market, as well as vehicles from Nio, Li Auto, Xpeng, and Xiaomi. Some companies, including Geely and BYD, have already quietly begun returning to traditional solutions.<\/p>\n
Redesigning vehicle architecture could prove costly: according to industry sources, adapting a single model to meet the new requirements could cost more than approximately $14.4 million. At the same time, experts believe the Chinese ban could have global implications\u2014rather than producing different versions for different markets, automakers may switch to a unified door design worldwide.<\/p>\n
For models that have already received certification or are at the final stage of preparation for launch, a transition period is \u043f\u0440\u0435\u0434\u0443\u0441\u043c\u043e\u0442\u0440\u0435\u043d\u043e until January 2029.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":151092,"menu_order":0,"template":"","newscat":[9],"newstag":[],"issues":[],"class_list":["post-151091","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","newscat-novosti"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/151091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"newscat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newscat?post=151091"},{"taxonomy":"newstag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newstag?post=151091"},{"taxonomy":"issues","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues?post=151091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}