Starting 2027, New Cars Must Have Manually Operable Door Handles Under Stricter Safety Standards

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) recently issued the mandatory national standard "Safety Technical Requirements for Automotive Door Handles" (GB 48001–2026), which will take effect on January 1, 2027. The new standard specifies three core requirements: vehicle doors must provide sufficient space for mechanical operation; a purely mechanical emergency unlocking function must remain operational even when the entire vehicle loses power; and door handles must reliably open under extreme conditions such as collisions, fires, or freezing temperatures. This move primarily targets the increasingly common hidden door handle design—currently adopted by approximately 60% of the top 100 best-selling new energy vehicle models—which poses risks of failure to open during power outages or accidents, thereby hindering evacuation and rescue efforts. The new national standard will significantly enhance vehicles' passive safety performance and better protect occupant safety.