China to tighten regulations for EVs – batteries must not catch fire or explode after thermal runaway

China will be tightening regulations for electric vehicle batteries with a set of newly-introduced technical standards for these batteries with the aim of reducing the risk of fire or explosions, reported Car News China.

The Chinese ministry of industry and information technology (MIIT) has announced mandatory national safety standards, named the GB38031-2025 Safety Requirements for Power Batteries of Electric Vehicles which will take effect on July 1, 2026.

This is to be the first EV battery standard requiring batteries to prevent fire and explosion even after internal thermal runaway has occurred, and the most significant change in the safety standard is the requirement for thermal diffusion, according to Car New China.

The updated regulations will replace the outgoing standard where a warning was only required five minutes before a fire or explosion occurs. Now, the regulations also require that any smoke emitted must not harm the vehicle’s occupants, in addition to the batteries not catching fire or exploding even during thermal runaway.

Also introduced with the updated safety standards are bottom impact testing to evaluate the vehicle’s battery protection capabilities, as well as the ability to withstand 300 fast-charging cycles without fire or explosion during short-circuit tests. Car News China cites battery manufacturer CATL as saying that its first-generation no-thermal-propagation technology has been in production since 2020.

This announcement by the Chinese ministry of industry and information technology comes after a high-profile incident involving a Xiaomi SU7 resulted in three deaths. The vehicle was reportedly in autonomous operation when the incident occurred.

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