Should the UK ban hidden door handles on electric cars like China?

China has announced it is banning retractable or ‘flush’ door handles on all cars from next year. Should the UK do the same?The UK should ban retractable door handles on electric cars, according to a large proportion of Yahoo News UK readers.

Following reports that China is to ban «hidden» car door handles from 2027 due to safety concerns, making it the first country to target the feature found in many electric vehicles (EVs), we asked our readers what you think about the issue.

In response to the question: ‘Should the UK ban hidden door handles on electric cars?’, some 77% said yes, while just 17% said no, and 6% said they weren’t sure.

The design of the retractable door handles, which function through a key fob or mobile phone or by manually pressing them, has raised concerns in several countries over potential safety risks and concerns that they could be inoperable in an accident.

New rules announced by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will require all cars to have both interior and exterior mechanical releases. New vehicles must comply with the regulations from 1 January 2027, while models already approved will have another two years to comply.

No rules are yet in place in Europe or the US, but concerns have previously been raised around the same issue.

What you told us
Yahoo readers have also voiced their concerns, commenting on the issue as part of our poll, which attracted a total of 591 votes.

Paul D, from Cupar, Scotland, said: «Recessed and electric door handles should be banned. Cars should also be supplied with window breakers», while Shaun C, from Cambridge, said: «Those hidden door handles are a death trap in an emergency. Time spent trying to locate a hidden door handle is time wasted trying to rescue the occupants. For what, style?»

Peter W, from Broadstairs, added: «They should be be banned. All these «great ideas» that rely on technical stuff functioning correctly. What happens when it goes wrong and your kids or pet is stuck inside and you can’t get in?»

What happens when it goes wrong?

R Brown, from Plymouth, also voiced concerns, saying: «You know what say, if it’s not broke don’t fix it, there will be deaths if this is not addressed, it is very dangerous.»

But some people were less set on banning the doors.

V Coombes, from Redhill in Surrey, pointed out that other aspects of modern cars could also be dangerous, saying: «Is this the same as a keyless car? If so, I feel that these can be as equally dangerous. We have a keyless car and there are times when you can feel trapped, especially when the driver has the key fob and you have no control over it?»

A man's hand is holding a new style car door handle.
Concerns have been voiced by some about the safety impact of ‘hidden’ door handles.
(Thananat via Getty Images)
What’s the context?
In October, Chinese state media reported that the driver of a Xiaomi SU7 Ultra sedan died in an accident after passers-by were unable to open the door to pull him out of the burning vehicle. Xiaomi is yet to comment on the incident.In the US, Tesla is under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after some Model Y owners said their children had been trapped inside due to failing door handles, Business Insider reported.

Elon Musk’s company is also facing a lawsuit by an owner of a 2014-2016 Model S in Florida, who said the «flush» door handles «routinely fail» after only a few years of use, posing a «significant safety risk».

Tesla has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, while chief designer Franz von Holzhausen told Bloomberg in September 2025 that the company was working to combine the electronic and manual door-release mechanisms to make them more intuitive for occupants in a «panic situation».

While some Tesla models do feature a small pulley under the passenger door that acts as a manual release, some experts have said features like this can be hard to operate in emergencies.

The issue does not appear to have attracted as much concern in the UK yet, but hit as in mainland Europe.

Unterallgäu, Bavaria, Germany — January 25, 2026: A Tesla Model Y electric car drives along a snow-covered country road in Bavaria in winter road conditions. Snow and slipperiness make for slippery roads and difficult traffic conditions *** Ein Elektroauto des Typs Tesla Model Y fährt bei winterlichen Straßenverhältnissen über eine verschneite Landstraße in Bayern. Schnee und Glätte sorgen für rutschige Fahrbahn und erschwerte Verkehrsbedingungen
Tesla have had bad press about its electronic door handles in recent months, but it is not the only brand to use them.
(IMAGO/Michael Bihlmayer, Imago)More
In September last year, the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) called for «urgent action» on the risks posed by electronically activated car doors.

The organisation referred to a crash and fire in Germany where two children and their father died, reportedly after being trapped inside a burning Tesla.

«The problem extends beyond one brand,» ETSC added, warning that electrically activated doors are becoming «increasingly common across vehicle types» and that UN and EU regulations include no requirements to ensure they can be opened in emergencies.

Research carried out for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) raised similar concerns.

«In real-world crashes, retractable door handles may not open (or pop out, respectively) automatically due to loss of electric power», the experts said.

Referring to emergency levers included in the interior of some EVs, the researchers added: «Instructions in owner‘s manuals, in emergency response guides or printed on deployed window airbags are no practical solution at an early stage of rescue.»

Yahoo has contacted Tesla for comment.