As of July 1, 2026, two mandatory national standards of Chiona for electric vehicles officially will enter into force: GB 18384‑2025 Electric vehicles safety requirements and GB 38031‑2025 Electric vehicles traction battery safety requirements. This article presents key takeaways of the requirements in these two standards.

The former addresses vehicle‑level high‑voltage protection, mechanical underbody integrity and operational safety functions, while the latter focuses on the thermal stabiliy, mechanical robustness and electrical protection of traction battery cells and packs. Together they establish the core safety benchmarks for type approval of new EV models. For already type‑approved vehicles, both standards provide a 12-month transition period, meaning such products shall conform with these two standard since July 1, 2027.

GB 18384‑2025 Electric vehicles safety requirements

This standard centres on high‑voltage shock protection, underbody impact resistance and driver‑accessible safety features. The most prominent new requirement is the mandatory installation of a physical power‑off device, which must be readily operable by the driver and capable of cutting off the propulsion system power with a single action. This replaces software‑dependent or multi‑step shutdown procedures, significantly enhancing reliability for emergency and maintenance scenarios.

For service disconnects, a high‑voltage service disconnect must either meet finger‑proof ingress protection (IPXXB) or reduce the voltage on its live parts to a safe level within 1 second after opening. A low‑voltage service disconnect must be clearly distinguishable from other components and must bring the B‑voltage circuit down to safe levels within 10 seconds. Charging inlets are also required to either rapidly decrease voltage after disconnection or provide adequate physical protection.

On insulation safety, vehicles must continuously or intermittently monitor the insulation resistance of high‑voltage circuits. Whenever the resistance falls below the specified threshold (at least 100 Ω/V for DC and 500 Ω/V for AC), a visible or audible alarm must be triggered. A new underbody impact test requires the vehicle to pass over a 150 mm diameter hemispherical steel barrier at 35 km/h, striking the weakest point beneath the battery pack. After the test, no electrolyte leakage, fire or explosion may occur, and the insulation resistance must remain compliant. In addition, functions such as brake priority, shift‑lock protection and charging‑interlock are formally included as mandatory requirements.

GB 38031‑2025 Electric vehicles traction battery safety requirements

This standard significantly raises the safety pass criteria for traction batteries. The most substantial change concerns the thermal propagation test: the previous requirement of providing an alarm at least 5 minutes before fire or explosion has been upgraded to a strict "no fire, no explosion" condition, coupled with a demand that smoke must not cause a hazard to the passenger compartment. Manufacturers must demonstrate, through triggering thermal runaway in a single cell by needle penetration, external or internal heating, that the battery pack or system can contain the event and prevent smoke ingress both before and within 5 minutes after the thermal event alarm. This imposes more demanding thermal management, insulation materials and venting design.

A new underbody impact test is introduced for battery packs mounted on the vehicle underside. A 30 mm diameter, 10 kg steel impactor strikes three pre‑identified risk locations (front, middle and rear) on the pack, and the pack must show no leakage, rupture, fire or explosion, with insulation resistance still meeting the requirement. Another new test, fast‑charge cycle safety, applies to cells capable of charging from 20 % to 80 % SOC in 15 minutes or less: after 300 fast‑charge cycles, the cell must pass an external short‑circuit test without fire or explosion.

Furthermore, the standard clarifies insulation resistance requirements for systems with AC circuits (at least 500 Ω/V) and adds insulation checks after the crush test.

For foreign stakeholders, these stricter requirements are advised to be noticed and be ware of the direct market access impacts to both complete vehicles but also batteries.