China is banning hidden door handles on all cars sold in the country, becoming the first country in the world to target the feature – which was popularized by Tesla but has for years drawn concern over safety risks.
The feature has previously come under heavy scrutiny, both in China and elsewhere.
Last September, Tesla said it was looking into redesigning the way to open its car doors in an emergency, after several accidents where passengers were reportedly killed or severely injured in burning vehicles because rescuers could not open them.
Other Tesla owners have reported having to break their own car windows after buckling their children in and then being unable to get in the car again, according to an investigation by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
An investigation by Bloomberg found 140 incidents of people being trapped in their Teslas due to problems with the door handles, including several that resulted in horrific injuries.
So now Tesla can’t sell any cars in China. Take note investors.
Also, Chinese car makers like Jaecoo, who have also been using hidden car door latches, launched practical copies of models with normal car door latches in 2025.
So when Tesla goes bankrupt and all these people own cars locked down by software, unable to service them, I guess they just turn into giant paper weights?
I don’t know much about this, but in my understanding, it’s not that the handle hides in the door, but the fact that the latch inside is electronic. Using a mechanical latch that will work even without any electrical power would solve the problem.
It’s both. The electric latch can trap occupants inside the vehicle, and the external handles make it difficult for rescuers to quickly access anyone trapped inside.
One is definitely way worse than the other though.
The flush handles on a model 3 are annoying in ice but the situations in which you desperately need into a car seem less likely than the situations where you need out but can’t find the stupid pull tab that’s hidden under plastic.
How can it has been approved first? in case of crash and battery disconnect for whatever reason, you are trapped in the car, cannot get in cannot get out‽‽‽
Also I’d like to know after let’s say 10 years, how many kWh did you save thanks to that?
So, the flush handles actually save a lot.
The thing is, there’s purely mechanical ways of solving the problem. Including a hinge set somewhere towards the middle- so you push one side in, and the other angled out so you can open it.
Not the most convenient, but it’s less inconvenient than an over engineered piece of shit that breaks every winter.
They do not “save a lot” It’s purely a marketing gimmick.
The normal pocket handles do create a not insignificant amount of drag.
The pop out mechanism is stupid, don’t get me wrong, but it does have an appreciable effect on range.
The normal handles might shift the coefficient of drag by 0.01 by the most generous estimate I could find, and the Lucid Air has a coefficient of 0.197… It’s insignificant. A flap-type door handle that is recessed is probably exactly the same as the ‘cool’ flat handle look, and if not an air baffle for the lower half would absolutely make it the same as the weird ones
No, it really doesn’t. Having your tires low by 1 psi would be a bigger difference.
Last time I got on a coworker’s Tesler, thats how they worked. Push the large part in with your thumb and the handle pops out. Curl your fingers around it and pull.
The thing I thought of later was “that made sene to me, who grew up in the 70’s/80’s/90’s with handles that had a button you push in with your thumb. No kid knows that anymore.”
That’s not what is being banned- though the newer style could still be electric and problematic, the style they’re really going after seems motorized pop out handles that look like this:
Yeah, that design is dumb… but also they must have changed the design. I don’t have and don’t ever care to have one, so I’m not sure on that.
in case of crash and battery disconnect for whatever reason, you are trapped in the car, cannot get in cannot get out‽‽‽
You can get out using a manual pull.
But Americans don’t read manuals.
Americans also like bad interiors in their expensive vehicles, it seems. That door card looks horrible.
This is why Tesla has been a mixed bag. They have made some smart choices and they have made some not so smart choices. Unfortunately, because they essentially are the EV market in America, all other companies looking to bring EVs to the market have copied Tesla in many ways, both the good and the bad. I think that’s at least part of the reason why the EV market is suffering right now.
People shouldn’t buy Tesla because a) their cars are garbage and dangerous, and b) the owner of the company is a Nazi. Have a good day, y’all!
They’re overpriced.
Yup, any price for garbage is too much
a) their cars are garbage and dangerous, and b) the owner of the company is a Nazi.
also c) the owner is a pedophile who frequented Epstein Island.
Anyways, this will all be moot in a few years, Tesla is getting out of cars and shifting to robot butler sex robots.
Moot? b) and c) are surely timeless crimes.
A.2, overpriced!
Name one of their smart choices.
The plug they came up with, that eventually became the NAC standard. Technology Connections did a video about it, and he is no Tesla fan, I assure you of that.
Yeah sure and TC isn’t right about everything. NACS currently doesn’t support (and hasn’t for years) 800v charging. CCS does. I can charge my ioniq 5 in 15 minutes up to 80%. This is like saying Tesla did self driving cars first, except they still don’t have it working properly, they’ve just been claiming so for a decade.
If your product is only good as a future, not yet implemented, version of itself, then it’s not a product and shouldn’t be bought. You’re selling future promises, rather than current status.
But Teslas still work at only 400V, while the rest of the industry is up to 800V.
I love the Audi e-tron. Feels sturdy like an audi, no stupid gimmicks like disappearing handles.
But it’s an AUDI, so it will fall apart 11 seconds after the lease is up.
