this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2026
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47
As China bans new cars with unsafe doors, Australia risks becoming a ‘dumping’ ground (theconversation.com)
submitted 3 days ago by Sepia@mander.xyz to c/australia@aussie.zone
15 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

From January 1 2026, ... all new cars sold in China will need handles that can be manually opened in an emergency, even when a car has lost power. The US is currently considering a similar move.

The ban followed a series of sometimes fatal incidents, where people were trapped inside burning, flooded or frozen cars, with doors unable to be opened from the outside.

Australia risks becoming a “dumping” ground for electric cars following the introduction of new Chinese safety rules from next year, a report for Australian car dealers has warned.

The Australian Automotive Dealers’ Association – which represents 3,900 new car and truck dealers – recently released an independent report by legal expert Emeritus Professor Jenny Buchan.

It largely focused on problems with drivers getting car repairs done under Australian consumer law. But the report also concluded:

Australia should not ignore the risk of stock dumping following China’s approach to EVs with flush door handles. The US has also recognised the problems flush door handles cause and responded by introducing a bill to the House of Representatives.

...

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[–] OzzyIsAussie@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Cars are valuable, the cost of converting from right to left hand drive is not greater than the value of the car, so manufacturers will just adjust costs to account for it.

[–] Salvo@aussie.zone 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

EVs are pretty much fly-by-wire (autocorrect tried to change to fry-by-wire, LOL) so LH/RH conversions are pretty straightforward.

That said, retrofitting safe door handles is even more straightforward.

[–] Zarobi@aussie.zone 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah I was gonna say, surely it's not a big job to have… a door? That just opens via handle? I have one already in my car. Several, even

[–] Salvo@aussie.zone 1 points 3 hours ago

If I was a manufacturer, I would do is look though my parts catalogue for recessed door handles with an integrated trim.

I would also create cutting templates for the door skin and stick-on mounting brackets for the one-piece door handles.

Dealer Technicians would have instructions to remove all the retracting crap, tape the template to the skin, and cut out a hole. Then they would epoxy the mounting brackets inside the door shell. This will enable them to install the old-design handles.

I would recall and cancel the retracting door handles. When stock of the retracting-handle-compatible door skins are depleted, I would supersede the doors to a new, safer design plus the new, safer handles.