China recalls nearly 3 million Teslas over door handles that can trap occupants in crashes

China has launched the largest vehicle recall in its history, covering more than 4 million cars, after safety concerns that flush, retractable door handles — a styling cue popularised by Tesla and copied across the EV industry — are difficult to locate and open in an emergency.

According to the BBC, the recall includes 2.98 million Chinese-built Teslas, along with vehicles from domestic manufacturers XPeng, Xiaomi and Geely.

The handles at issue sit flush with the door panel and extend only when the car detects its owner approaching. The look became a visual signature of modern electric cars, but it drew scrutiny in China after two fatal crashes involving Xiaomi EVs in which power failures are suspected of having prevented the doors from opening.

What Tesla is doing

Tesla said in a statement on Friday, according to the BBC, that it is recalling certain Model 3, Model Y, Model S and Model X vehicles because their handles are "difficult to identify and operate because their colour is similar to the interior trim". In a severe collision that knocks out the vehicle's low-voltage system, that could stop occupants or rescuers from getting the doors open quickly.

The remedy is twofold: warning labels will be placed on the recalled cars, and a software update will automatically lower a vehicle's windows after a collision, giving occupants an alternative exit if the doors will not open.

Tu Le, founder of the consultancy Sino Auto Insights, told the BBC that warning labels plus a software patch is closer to a "band-aid" than a lasting fix for the underlying design problem.

How the design spread

Tu Le said Chinese manufacturers began copying the sleek look of Tesla's Model S sedan around 2014 and that adoption of the hidden-handle style has "snowballed" since. That imitation explains the recall's unusual breadth: the issue is not one company's engineering failure but a design convention much of the market adopted.

Regulators move in

China has already acted to close the gap. Under new rules that take effect on 1 January 2027, cars can only be sold in the country if they have a mechanical release for their doors on both the inside and the outside, effectively forcing a physical fallback alongside electronic handles.

In the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggested in July that a new formal safety standard be created for all carmakers, the BBC reports. The agency, along with Tesla, XPeng, Xiaomi and Geely, had been contacted by the BBC for comment, and it remains unclear whether similar recalls will follow in other markets.

Why it matters

The recall is a high-profile example of a recurring tension in car design: features chosen for aesthetics or aerodynamics that depend on a vehicle's electronics can fail exactly when they are needed most. A door handle that works only when the car has power is a liability in any crash severe enough to cut that power.

It also illustrates how software now carries safety remediation. Part of Tesla's fix arrives as an update that changes post-collision behaviour — lowering the windows automatically — rather than a hardware redesign, and analysts already question whether that goes far enough.

The regulatory response is the clearest signal yet to the industry. China's 2027 mechanical-release mandate, paired with NHTSA's move toward a formal standard, suggests that flush handles will need reliable physical overrides worldwide, and that other markets may follow China in scrutinising designs already on the road.