China’s ministry of industry and information technology (MIIT) has launched a public consultation on draft national standards which require car doors to remain mechanically operable after collisions or EV fires. CarNewsChina reports, citing Y-Auto, that the proposals are open for comment from December 17-23.
Released on September 24, the draft requires, among others, that each door, excluding tailgates, be able to be mechanically opened by occupants or rescuers without tools in emergencies, even if they’re locked.
Outside door handles must be able to take at least 500 Newtons of force without breaking or detaching, be situated within defined accessible areas on the door or adjacent door frame, and must have enough hand clearance so the door can be opened mechanically even in the event of power loss or system failure.
As for the inside door handles, each door must have at least one mechanically-operating handle and any of the handles must be independently able to open the door. At least one handle must be clearly visible to occupants, positioned within specified distances from the door edge and relative to the seat reference point.
Also, the inside door handles must have permanent identification markings, including standardised symbols with a minimum size, high contrast and low-light legibility. Each handle must be able to take at least 200 Newtons of force, with lower thresholds specified for electronic button-type handles.
The draft also defines criteria for determining whether vehicles share the same handle type configuration and outlines phased implementation timelines. For newly type-approved models, specific spatial requirements will apply 13 months after the regulation takes effect, while all other requirements apply immediately. Vehicles already type-approved must comply 25 months after the regulation comes into force.
It was previously reported that research on this topic has been conducted since 2024, involving over 100 industry experts from China and abroad, the examination of over 230 models, and the static and dynamic validation of over 20 models, the latter based on road accident data.
Side impact crash tests reportedly showed a 67% post-collision operability rate, compared to 98% for conventional mechanical handles. There was also a 47% increase in the number of door handle-related accidents (87% were apparently caused by pop-out handles), as well as a 132% increase in the number of finger-pinching incidents – including those that fractured children’s fingers.
So there you go – whether you call them hidden, pop-out, flush, aerodynamic or retractable door handles, they won’t be banned, but they’ll need to be designed and engineered much more stringently moving forward. Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
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Saw a new ev there door handles similar to saga iswara
Same review should be undertaken for vehicle electronic windows. With the high incidence of severe flooding across the globe, electronic window failures during submersion could be fatal.
all cars should have manual windows which can be wind down by hand handle during submerge in flood
Fixing problems for an “innovation” that nobody asked for