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When Bad UI Design Kills: China Bans Flush Door Handles

A dumb automotive design feature finally gets its comeuppance

By Rain Noe - February 4

in Cars

To their peril, the fields of architecture and industrial design increasingly prize novelty over function. Frank Gehry's design for the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health—which was designed to treat people suffering from neurological conditions—famously made patients feel vertigo, nausea and disorientation.

Image: Monster4711, CC BY-SA 3.0

As for industrial design, it's one thing to design a neat-looking, difficult-to-use hair dryer. But in the automotive space, adding novel features purely for cool factor can have deadly consequences. I've already written about two instances (here and here) in which needlessly new designs for shifters may have led to two deaths.

This week China has banned flush, electronically-operated door handles. First popularized by Tesla with their 2012 Model S, and subsequently copied by a number of manufacturers including Chinese ones, the handles can lose power in the event of an accident or battery failure.

While Tesla does provide mechanical overrides on the inside of the vehicle, their locations are unintuitive and concealed, prizing aesthetics over function. Look at their locations:

Model S, front seats

Model S, rear seats

Model Y, front seats

Model Y, rear seats

The burden is on the vehicle's occupants to learn where these are. In the event of a crash, where you may be concussed, could you execute the three-step sequence for the Model Y's rear seats?

Worse, there is no mechanical override on the outside of the vehicle. This means, in the event the vehicle's occupants are rendered unconscious in a crash that has cut power, the exterior handles cannot be opened. While first responders should have equipment to break the glass and pull the occupants out, bystanders, who may be on scene quicker, will have no such equipment nor training.

China passed the new law following a series of highly-covered, grisly fatalities involving the Xiaomi SU7. Last year, in two different crashes the cars burst into flames. Power was cut to the doors, and neither the occupants nor bystanders were able to open them. A man and three female university students burned to death inside of the vehicles before first responders could free them.

The U.S., too, has suffered such incidents. Following a Cybertruck crash in California, three teenagers were unable to locate the hidden manual door releases, and burned to death inside of the vehicle.

Cybertruck, front seats

Cybertruck, rear seats

And in Texas, Angela Chao accidentally backed her Tesla Model X into a pond (reportedly confused by the shifter design; she'd made the 'reverse' error before). Unable to locate the mechanical overrides, she called friends for help. When first responders arrived, they were unable to open the doors, and could not break through the Model X's reinforced laminated glass, despite trying for an hour. Chao drowned to death inside the vehicle.

Ironically, Chao was the sister of Elaine Chao, the former U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

China's new law specifies that all car door handles must have a grippable open space of 60mm (2.36") W x 20mm (0.79") H x 25mm (0.98") D and be operable even without electric power. Interior manual releases can no longer be hidden under carpets or panels; they must be clearly visible, labeled with permanent signage, and located within 300mm (11.81") of the door edge. Manufacturers have until January 1st, 2027 to comply.

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Comments

Roger ak

2 months ago

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I think you are all being too harsh.
Anybody with a Tesla who has had an accident and finds their car powerless, can find these instructions in the hard copy owners manual that does not exist as it is now an app on the infotainment center.

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- Zach W
  
  Roger ak
  
  2 months ago
  
  Z
  
  1Z
  
  Reply
  
  That made me laugh.....
  
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  - Anthony Towers
    
    Zach W
    
    2 months ago
    
    Z
    
    1Z
    
    I couldn't laugh, I was on fire while I was reading the handbook (which was in an electrically operated glovebox)
    
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Jason Pokines

2 months ago

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1Z

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I'm proud of every one of these comments.

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Alan Nomoto

2 months ago

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1Z

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They may not be the most “designey” but there’s a reason aircraft have placards plastered everywhere; people lose situational awareness. Particularly when distressed.

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Charles Flynn

2 months ago

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I wonder if the car makers ever use focus groups with widely-varying participant ages before they inflict these errors on the world.

CNN Business, September 18, 2025: : Tesla is looking to redesign its door handles following trapped-passenger reports

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Jacques Boyer

2 months ago

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Looking forward to seeing new Tesla's with this graphic on each door

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Michael DiTullo

2 months ago

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Both of our non-Tesla EVs have mechanical door handles. Good designers and engineers know they don't need to reinvent the wheel with every component. There is something to be said for intuitive UX that has built up over decades across multiple vehicles from multiple manufacturers. Of course this company also tried to reinvent the wheel literally with the yoke, complete with capacitive turn signal buttons instead of the standard stalk signal indicators that everyone is accustomed to... also bad. 🤷‍♂️

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Zach W

2 months ago

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So is the US going to follow? Seems like a no-brainer.

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