The boss of Australia’s independent new-vehicle safety authority has called for new rules banning electric door handles in China to be extended to all new vehicles in Australia.
Safety concerns led to new regulations announced late last year, meaning door handles will need mechanical releases both inside and out on all newly launched vehicles sold in China from January 1, 2027, and then on all new vehicles from January 1, 2029.
The new regulations stem from occupants being unable to exit vehicles and emergency services being hindered during rescue/extraction attempts, due to door handles which don’t operate without power.
The mechanical backup is being mandated to counter this, thereby allowing doors to be opened when the vehicle’s power source is cut.
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Speaking on ABC Radio Melbourne’s Mornings program, Carla Hoorweg – CEO of independent safety authority ANCAP – told host Raf Epstein the same laws should be adopted here.
“The concern is warranted; it’s an area where there’s opportunity for the government to sweep up and stop this from happening,” Ms Hoorweg said during the radio interview.
“The evidence that we’ve seen so far – we know the government’s working on regulations, they’re part of the UN [United Nations] rule-making process – but it’s certainly an opportunity where you wouldn’t want to see regulations delayed while other jurisdictions move in this direction.”
Australian Design Rules (ADRs) currently mandate door handles must be able to be opened from inside a vehicle, and that safety systems must not rely solely on electric operation – but this doesn’t specifically address electrically powered-only door handles.
ANCAP is set to introduce new protocols in 2026 in conjunction with sister authority Euro NCAP, with full details yet to be announced.
“[It’s] certainly an area where the regulator should come in and step in, in our view,” Ms Hoorweg told ABC’s Mornings.
“We’re doing what we can, but we’re voluntary – it’s not mandatory to have an ANCAP safety rating, so we can’t stop cars coming into the country [with electric-only door handles] …”
Australia’s legislated vehicle standards and ADRs are largely harmonised with the UN, with the government joining a UN working group formed in June 2025 to assess existing laws for vehicle door opening mechanisms in emergency scenarios.
A spokesperson for the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts, which forms regulations, told CarExpert: “Parties agreed that opening a door in an emergency should be intuitive even after the loss of electrical power.”
“Australia supports and continues to participate in this working group to progress this important safety matter … Further meetings and discussions will identify appropriate amendments to affected regulations.”
ANCAP has said the issue of getting in and out of vehicles in emergencies isn’t new but has been raised as electrically powered door handles have become fashionable.
“From ANCAP’s perspective it has been something that we have been concerned about since we started,” Ms Hoorweg said.
“The old manual door handles with no electronics in them, we’ve been looking at [whether you] can open the door after a crash, either inside or outside the car.”
“And as we’ve seen electric door handles come on board, that’s something we’ve been looking at, and also whether the car’s been submerged in water – you can still open the door handles after a period of time.”
“We are seeing this as quite a modern design trend, and it’s not just limited to EVs – people think it’s only EVs, but a lot of petrol and hybrid cars are heading in this direction as well.”
“If people are concerned about their particular car, the best thing to do is to contact their dealership and ask them, ‘If I am in a crash, how do I open this manually?’”.
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