China’s new brake regulations keep optional one-pedal mode; Tesla benefits, prioritizing safety with brake light and regenerative braking standards.
The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has released an interpretation of the mandatory national standard for passenger car braking systems: Technical Requirements and Testing Methods for Passenger Car Braking Systems. This brings a new phase in the years-long debate over one-pedal driving mode.
The document states that, under default operating conditions, the deceleration achieved solely by releasing the accelerator pedal should not bring the vehicle to a complete stop. In other words, under default settings, applying the brake pedal is still required to fully stop the vehicle.
However, this doesn’t mean that one-pedal mode will be banned. Under the new standard, drivers retain the option to configure the vehicle’s operating mode themselves, meaning one-pedal driving could still be retained as a selectable feature.
The standard will go into effect on January 1, 2026, marking the first major revision of the regulation since its 2008 edition.
The development and release process for this standard took nearly five and a half years, from its initiation on July 29, 2020, to its final implementation.
So, under the new standard, will one-pedal driving be banned? And when regenerative braking is active, should the brake lights turn on?
Let’s take a look at what the official interpretation says.
Will One-Pedal Driving Become a Thing of the Past?
For drivers already accustomed to one-pedal mode, the biggest concern is whether they can continue to use it. After all, changing driving habits—especially ones tied closely to safety—is never easy.
Based on today’s explanation from MIIT, the prevailing interpretation is that one-pedal mode is not banned.
The regulation specifies: “If the electric regenerative braking system has more than one operating state, after each power-up, the vehicle should enter the default state or the state set by the driver. In the default state, the braking deceleration should not exceed 3 m/s².”
From some perspectives, using Tesla as an example, this means that starting next year, unless users manually configure one-pedal driving, new Tesla vehicles will require the brake pedal to bring the car to a full stop—just like most other NEVs.
If a driver wants to activate one-pedal mode, they’ll need to manually adjust the vehicle settings, using the user manual or the in-car menu to configure the operating mode. Once set, releasing the accelerator pedal will again decelerate the vehicle to a stop without needing to repeatedly configure the setting—essentially the same as current functionality.
One key question remains unanswered: will Teslas sold before 2026 automatically update their default mode to comply with the new standard on January 1, 2026? Most likely, Tesla will issue an OTA update or display a prompt on the in-car screen at that time to explain any changes.
At present, it is still unclear whether users will be allowed to configure the car to use one-pedal mode by default, meaning the vehicle would come to a stop when the accelerator is released.
Another detail: when users configure the operating mode themselves, the vehicle will likely display a clear “optical signal” during daytime driving to remind the driver of the current braking status.
Overall, it seems that the new standard places the choice in the hands of consumers, while addressing safety concerns by requiring clear in-vehicle visual alerts.
Whether it’s this new standard for one-pedal driving or other recent regulations in the automotive industry, most efforts have been driven by safety concerns.
One longstanding debate in energy recovery mode has been whether the brake lights should illuminate when the accelerator is released and regenerative braking is active.
According to the new regulation: “When the automatic control braking and/or regenerative braking causes deceleration, the brake lights should illuminate. Once the braking signal is activated, as long as the deceleration demand persists, the signal should remain on.”
With this, two long-debated concerns about NEVs on the road finally have some regulatory clarity.
A “Scapegoat”?
The discussion over banning one-pedal driving has been deeply polarizing.
Many Tesla owners and one-pedal enthusiasts have strongly opposed the idea, saying that they worked hard to adapt to one-pedal driving and will resist OTA updates that remove the feature.
Some drivers argue that, from a vehicle control perspective, mastering one-pedal mode allows for smoother and more precise driving, and they consider one-pedal driving “the soul of EV driving.”
Others, however, welcome the new rule, describing one-pedal driving as “anti-human” and claiming it poses a serious risk to road safety.
Ultimately, both sides are arguing from a safety perspective, which has always been at the heart of the debate—and Tesla, as the brand most associated with one-pedal driving, is inevitably caught in the crossfire.
In 2023, under regulatory pressure, Tesla issued an OTA recall affecting 1.1 million vehicles in China, adding the option for users to adjust regenerative braking strength—a choice Tesla had not previously offered, frustrating many users.
Some speculate that the widely discussed “brake failure” incidents involving Tesla were actually due to drivers being so accustomed to one-pedal driving that, in emergencies, they forgot about the brake pedal and accidentally stepped on the accelerator.
A 2021 report from the U.S. NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) supports this theory. The investigation, covering 246 incidents, found that all were caused by pedal misapplication, not mechanical failure. Similar incidents have been reported in China as well.
Of course, whether one-pedal driving leads to such mistakes or whether drivers are simply looking to shift blame for their own errors remains debated.
The polarized views stem from the obvious trade-offs of one-pedal driving:
On the one hand, releasing the accelerator to slow down—paired with smooth regenerative braking—provides a more relaxed and comfortable driving experience. The energy recovery also improves driving range, addressing EV owners’ range anxiety.
On the other hand, one-pedal driving is counter to most people’s driving habits, introducing risks during the adjustment period. Once adapted, the changed muscle memory could also lead to pressing the wrong pedal in emergencies.
Like many things, whether one-pedal driving is safe depends on the driver’s familiarity and skill level, making it difficult to reach a universal conclusion. But as the technology is still relatively new, with many consumers yet to adapt to it, regulatory safety backstops remain essential.
Tesla’s journey—from resisting driver-adjustable regenerative braking to issuing OTA updates in 2023 under regulatory pressure, and now becoming a key contributor to drafting the new standards—may reflect both a strategic compromise and an effort to clarify liability boundaries.
Once one-pedal mode becomes an optional setting rather than the default, it may help clarify responsibility in the event of accidents. This benefits both cautious consumers wary of one-pedal driving and brands like Tesla that have been plagued by claims of “brake failure.”
The question now: If one-pedal driving becomes optional, will you still turn it on?
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