China moves to curb futuristic car features before they reach showrooms

Draft rules would ban concealed door handles and moving ‘zero-gravity’ seats while doubling minimum reliability testing for new models.

China is moving to rein in some of the most controversial features in modern car design after a year in which hidden door handles, overscreened cabins and novelty seats have all come under scrutiny. On 10 October, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the State Administration for Market Regulation, released a draft notice that would tighten approval and testing rules for new vehicle designs. State media said the draft is aimed at stopping manufacturers from pushing vehicles to market before safety and validation work is complete.

The most visible target is the fully concealed door handle. According to the draft, it would be prohibited, while innovative handle designs would need mechanical redundancy and enough space for hand operation so that doors can still be opened after a power failure. That follows the publication earlier this year of a mandatory national standard on door-handle safety, which MIIT said requires mechanical release functions to keep working even if the vehicle loses power. Reuters reported in August that nine Chinese automakers, including Tesla, had already filed recalls over emergency door-release concerns, in what became the country’s largest auto recall campaign.

The proposal goes further than door handles. It would also ban foldable and flexible displays, and require manufacturers using large central screens, complex head-up displays or other elaborate interfaces to assess their impact on driving safety and crash performance. In another sign of the regulator’s direction of travel, the draft says “zero-gravity” seats, swivel seats and seats that fold flat into beds must not be usable while the car is moving. Key emergency functions, including escape, braking and power cut-off, would have to retain physical controls and clear markings rather than being buried inside a touch-screen menu.

Testing requirements would also become much stricter. The draft says new models would need reliability verification of at least 30,000 kilometres, double the 15,000-kilometre benchmark that has been common for some new-energy vehicles, and environmental adaptability testing lasting at least one year, covering two winters and one summer. MIIT said products that fail to complete the required validation, are inadequately tested or are supported by false materials will not be approved from 1 January 2027. Existing approved models would have to submit supplementary technical data by 1 July 2027, and cars that still present safety risks could be suspended from production and recalled. Public comments on the draft are open until 10 November.

The broader message is clear. Chinese regulators are no longer treating safety failures as an issue to be corrected only after launch through recalls and software fixes. Instead, they are trying to move the gatekeeping stage earlier, into design approval and development testing. For carmakers, that means features once sold as premium or futuristic will now have to prove, in advance, that they can still work in the dark, in the cold and after a crash.