China: New standard GB 38031-2025 “Safety Requirements for Power Batteries for Electric Vehicles”.

 

On April 3, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially released GB 38031-2025 “Safety Requirements for Power Batteries for Electric Vehicles”. This new regulation, known as the “strictest battery safety order in history”, will be implemented on July 1, 2026.

The new standard includes 7 single-cell tests and 17 battery pack or system tests, including the newly added battery bottom impact test and safety test after fast charging cycle, and strengthens safety requirements such as heat diffusion.

It is understood that compared with the 2020 version of the national standard requiring that the battery not catch fire or explode within 5 minutes after thermal runaway, the new regulations have been revised to “no fire or explosion (alarm is still required), and smoke does not cause harm to occupants.”

For the first time, the new national standard elevates “no fire, no explosion” from a corporate technical reserve to a mandatory requirement, completely ending the industry’s fluke mentality regarding the risk of thermal runaway, and marking the entry of power battery safety into the “zero tolerance” era.

Implementation:

Implementation from July 1, 2026; for new vehicle models applying for type approval, implementation will begin from the date of implementation of the standard; for vehicle models that have obtained type approval, implementation will begin from the 13th month from the date of implementation of the standard.

The text of the standard is not available only.  So far, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has published a chart helping to understand the mandatory national standard GB 38031-2025.