Retractable door handles are not well received in China: for safety reasons, they are returning to traditional ones

One of the symbols of modernity and cutting-edge technology in today’s most current cars is the presence of retractable door handles. This type of door-opening mechanism allows the handle to sit flush, making the car’s design look much more interesting and clean. Furthermore, it provides a better aerodynamic coefficient. All advantages, it seems.

But in reality, the industry has run into a problem it did not expect: the safety offered by this type of handle is not as high as was hoped. At least, that is what they think in China. These handles are activated by an electrical system, which works very well, but can pose a problem in the event of an accident when occupants need to be reached inside the cabin to help them.

In fact, this has happened on some occasions in China, and that is why a new regulation is being studied, which seeks to eliminate these handles. From now on, all cars must be fitted with mechanical release handles, both on the exterior and the interior of the vehicle.

This allows the doors to be opened manually in the event of a loss of power and locking of the doors. The regulation began to be developed in mid-December, when it was made public that a mechanism should be established that would allow the door to be opened in the event of an accident or loss of power.

Increasing complaints

Although at first these handles were very well received in the automotive industry, little by little it has become known that they presented more problems than solutions. Locking of the doors represents a very high risk, and there have been fatalities because people could not get out of the cabin in time. Another problem that has arisen is that these handles do not work well in cold climates.

Inside, they also cause problems when unlocking the door, since the interior handle is not accessible in many cases. Should this ban go ahead, it would have repercussions across the entire global industry, which would be reflected in this market, and manufacturers would have to adapt their designs to make them accessible to the Chinese market.