Beginning July 1, 2026, China will enforce two new mandatory national safety standards for new energy vehicles (NEVs) and their power batteries. The updated regulations—GB18384—2025 for electric vehicles and GB38031—2025 for power batteries—address critical safety concerns at both the vehicle and cell levels as NEV adoption accelerates.
According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, May 2026 NEV production and sales reached 1.554 million and 1.496 million units respectively, and total NEV ownership in China stood at 43.97 million vehicles by the end of 2025.
The revised vehicle standard introduces a physical one-touch power-off switch, replacing earlier software-dependent emergency shutoff methods. With a single action, drivers or first responders can now disconnect the high-voltage circuit from the energy storage system, enhancing reliability in rescue operations.
Key updates to the battery standard include:
- Thermal safety: Batteries must demonstrate no fire or explosion under thermal stress, while still issuing alarm signals. Any smoke produced must pose no harm to occupants.
- Structural integrity: A new bottom-impact test evaluates battery resilience against underbody collisions.
- Durability: After 300 fast-charging cycles, batteries must withstand an external short-circuit test without fire or explosion.
Industry experts believe these measures will accelerate consolidation by rewarding manufacturers that meet higher safety benchmarks and curbing competition based on low-cost, low-quality products. Improved standards are expected to refine used-car valuation metrics and alleviate insurance industry concerns over high premiums or insurability challenges for second-hand NEVs. Dr. Han Guangshuai of Tongji University noted that the regulations could help resolve insurance barriers affecting used NEV markets.
Academician Wu Kai, chief scientist at a leading battery developer, projected that full implementation could reduce spontaneous combustion rates in NEVs to a fraction of those seen in internal combustion engine vehicles.
Several major battery suppliers have already demonstrated compliance: one reported that its full range of passenger and commercial vehicle batteries passed the new tests by May 2025, while another confirmed its second-generation blade battery exceeds the updated requirements.
Although stricter safety tests may increase power battery costs and influence pricing for models introduced after July, final vehicle prices will depend on automakers’ cost-management strategies. Government bodies, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State Administration for Market Regulation, will continue refining related standards, such as GB47497—2026 for early thermal runaway detection in power batteries.
Source: CarNewsChina
