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Tesla is at the centre of a massive vehicle recall in China, highlighting growing safety concerns over hidden and electronically operated door handles used by the electric vehicle industry.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) announced on August 21 that Tesla and several major Chinese automakers, including Xiaomi, XPeng and Geely, would recall more than four million vehicles.
Tesla alone is recalling nearly three million cars, according to the regulator.
The recalls come as China moves to tighten safety rules for hidden door handles, a design feature increasingly common in modern vehicles.
Around 60% of the top 100 best-selling new-energy vehicles in China, including electric and hybrid models, use hidden door handles, according to industry estimates.
The minimalist design is popular because it gives cars a sleek appearance and can reduce aerodynamic drag. But experts warn that the technology can create serious safety problems if the electronic systems fail during a crash.
“Even I often find it difficult to locate the switch to open the door from the inside of an unfamiliar vehicle,” said Stephen Dyer, a Shanghai-based automotive industry analyst at consultancy AlixPartners.
Nanyang Technological University associate professor Lyu Chen said electronically operated handles raised “real safety concerns” because a failure could delay the evacuation of passengers or rescue efforts after a crash.
“A door handle may seem simple, but it becomes safety-critical in the seconds after a crash,” Chen said.
Tesla is not the only manufacturer to face scrutiny over electronically operated doors.
Chinese automaker Xiaomi came under intense pressure following two fatal crashes involving its SU7 electric sedan in 2025, including an incident in Tongling in eastern China that killed three people.
Regional media reports cited by the state-controlled Global Times said relatives of the victims claimed passengers were trapped inside the vehicle because its doors could not be unlocked after the collision.
Xiaomi said at the time that the SU7 had mechanical emergency-release handles that could operate without electrical power and that it was investigating the incidents in cooperation with police.
The latest SU7 models have new door handles that can be opened without power.
Tesla has also faced legal action in the United States over its door-handle designs.
The sole survivor of a 2024 Cybertruck crash in California that killed three college students sued Tesla, alleging that the vehicle’s design trapped occupants inside the burning truck and hindered rescue efforts.
According to the survivor’s lawyers, the vehicle lacked conventional external door handles and its electronic buttons failed to operate.
Tesla denied wrongdoing in court filings and said the Cybertruck complied with US federal safety standards.
The company has also faced other allegations in the US involving passengers, including children, becoming trapped in Tesla vehicles after door systems stopped working.
China announced in February that it would ban hidden door handles on new vehicle designs, becoming the first country to introduce such a measure.
The new rules, which take effect on January 1, 2027, will prohibit the sale of new vehicle designs that lack physical release mechanisms on both the inside and outside of doors.
Vehicles will also be required to carry clear signs showing passengers how to open the doors.
The move comes ahead of similar regulations in the US and European Union, which have traditionally led global vehicle safety standards.
Dyer said the large number of electric vehicles on Chinese roads was likely one reason for the country’s early action.
Under the latest recall, manufacturers have been ordered to add warning labels inside vehicle doors explaining how passengers can open them. Some vehicles will also receive software updates designed to lower the windows automatically in the event of a crash.
Some engineers, however, believe the measures do not go far enough.
Engineering instructor Lim Hong Wee said safety measures should include a reliable mechanical method of opening doors rather than depending on software.
“Access to a car during an emergency should not depend on software,” he said.
Risk management consultant Gokul Krithivasan said the measures largely address how occupants can escape but do not necessarily provide rescuers with a dependable way to enter a damaged vehicle.
Warning labels may also offer limited protection, he said, arguing that people in panic, darkness or smoke-filled cabins are unlikely to stop and read instructions.
For now, it remains unclear whether Tesla and other automakers will face similar recalls or regulatory measures outside China. Source: BBC News