China Trains Its Sights on Pop-Up Door Handles: Safety Over Style
Not long ago, flush-mounted, button-activated pop-up door handles were hailed as the sleek calling card of modern automotive design. Now their future may be dimming, and the first clouds are gathering in China. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has released a draft regulation that sets new standards for external door handles. While not an outright ban, one clause in particular could effectively consign disappearing handles to history. Public consultation runs until November 22.
The draft stipulates that every exterior handle must offer a permanent finger grip area of at least 60 by 20 by 25 millimetres. In practice this rules out designs that remain fully recessed until sprung outward by an electric mechanism. Further, every door—apart from the tailgate—must be openable mechanically from outside, and a manual release must always be available from inside without the need for tools.
Another key requirement addresses electronic failures: door handles must remain operable even if the car’s electrical system or battery is disabled, whether by fire or other damage. In short, the door has to open when all the futuristic flourishes stop working.
Officials stress the draft follows extensive testing across dozens of vehicles, with input from domestic and foreign automakers, suppliers and testing centres. Regulators have long warned that pop-up handles are prone to freezing, sticking or becoming useless if power is lost, while any aerodynamic gains are marginal at best.
If enacted, the measure would mark the first serious regulatory strike against a trend that luxury brands have embraced with fervour. And the impact is unlikely to remain confined to China: in today’s industry, such safety standards tend to ripple quickly across global markets, reshaping design priorities well beyond their country of origin.
