Hong Kong — China will ban hidden car door handles, commonly used on Tesla’s electric vehicles and many other electric vehicle models, starting next year.

All car doors must have a mechanical handle release function, except for the tailgate, according to details released by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Officials said the policy was aimed at addressing safety concerns following fatal electric vehicle accidents in which electronic doors reportedly failed and trapped occupants in the vehicles.

The new requirement for interior and exterior door handles will come into effect on January 1, 2027. For car models already approved, automakers will have until January 1, 2029 to make design changes to comply with the regulations.

Vehicles including Tesla’s Model Y and Model 3, BMW’s iX3 and other models from many Chinese brands have retractable car door handles that could be subject to the new rules.

Chris Liu, a senior analyst at Shanghai-based technology research and advisory group Omdia, said the global impact of China’s new rules could be significant and other jurisdictions could follow suit when it comes to retractable doorknobs. Automakers will face a potentially expensive redesign or overhaul.

“China is the first major auto market to specifically ban electric pop-up and hidden push-release door handles,” he said. “While other regions have flagged security concerns, China is the first to formalize it into a national security standard.”

Regulators in Europe and elsewhere are likely to invoke or align with China’s approach, Liu said. The new requirements would affect premium electric vehicles more as retractable door handles are “treated as a design and aerodynamic statement”, he added.

A draft of the proposed rules was released by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in September for public comment.

Last year, the US National Transportation Safety Administration opened investigation into cases where Tesla’s electronic doorknobs allegedly failed.