China has moved to ban one of the most iconic Characteristics of the Tesla vehicle in order to control the safety of the vehicle.

New safety regulations published by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology state that cars sold in China will have to have mechanical unlocking on their door handles. according to TechCrunch. The outlet added that the rules, which come into effect on January 1, 2027, will ban hidden and electronically activated door handles.

Under the new rules, every door in the vehicle, except the rear door, will have to be equipped with an external door handle that can be released manually, and the vehicles will have to have a mechanical release on the inside, TechCrunch reported.

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A Tesla Model Y is shown charging at a Tesla dealership in Buena Park, California on January 28, 2026. (Mike Blake/File Photo/Reuters/Reuters)

China is the first country to implement this ban. While the feature became popular among Teslas, Chinese competitors, including Xiaomi, have adopted the design, according to Reuters.

The ruling came after high-profile incidents where power failures were suspected to have prevented doors from opening, leaving people trapped and unable to escape or be rescued. Bloomberg reported. The outlet said two of the incidents involved fiery accidents involving Xiaomi Corp. electric vehicles.

“China is changing from just being the largest electric vehicle market to being a regulation of how new vehicle technologies are regulated,” Bill Russo, founder of Shanghai-based consultancy Automobility, told Bloomberg. “By moving first, Beijing can use its huge domestic market to set safety standards that Chinese and foreign automakers must follow at home, and that can ultimately travel with China’s electric vehicle exports and influence world norms”.

A woman opens the door of a Tesla Model YL electric vehicle at a showroom in Beijing on February 3, 2026. China will ban hidden door handles on cars sold in the country starting next year, phasing out the minimalist design popularized by Tesla over safety c (Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)

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In December, the Office of Defect Investigation (ODI), which is under the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), opened an investigation into defects in the emergency door release controls of the Tesla Model 3 sedan, Reuters reported. The research included approximately 179,071 model year 2022 vehicles.

Visitors look at a Xiaomi SU7 electric vehicle on display at the Beijing International Automobile Exhibition, or Auto China 2024, in Beijing, China, on April 25, 2024. (Tingshu Wang/Reuters)

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Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 206 sets out requirements for vehicle door locks and door retention components to prevent occupants from being ejected during a crash.

An NHTSA representative pointed this out to FOX Business FMVSS no. 206 does not have specific requirements mandating manual door opening if power is lost, failure to provide a reasonable way for occupants to enter or exit a vehicle could be considered a safety defect and result in a recall. However, opening a defect petition does not automatically mean that a recall will be issued.

FOX Business reached out to Tesla and Xiaomi for comment.