China aims for global leadership in EV battery safety standards.

Blade batteries displayed by BYD at the company's celebration (November 2024, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province)

China will revise the safety standards for EV batteries, and the new standards will be stricter than the current ones. Envision a situation where after an abnormality occurs in a battery cell, the heat spreads to other cells. It requires that there be no explosion or fire within 2 hours after the abnormality occurs. If China's new standards are evaluated as relatively high in the world, it will be beneficial to the overseas business of Chinese manufacturers...

Chinese enterprises related to pure electric vehicles (EVs) are stepping up their efforts to cope with the EV battery safety standards that the government will revise next July. The new standards require that the battery does not explode or catch fire within a certain period after an abnormality occurs, and they are characterized by being stricter than the current ones. Industry giants such as Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) and BYD have completed their countermeasures, but small and medium - sized enterprises may be eliminated.

This is the first revision of the standards in five years. The reason why China is revising the standards to be stricter than the current ones also contains the intention to gain global leadership in this field.

The new standards announced by China envision a "thermal runaway" situation where after an abnormality occurs in the "cell", the smallest unit of a battery, the heat spreads to other cells. Battery and automobile manufacturers operating in China are required to ensure that there is no explosion or fire within 2 hours after an abnormality occurs. The current standard only requires an alarm to be issued 5 minutes before a danger such as an explosion occurs after thermal runaway.

Enterprises need to conduct new tests to prove whether their products meet the standards. In the test methods, the Chinese government has not only retained the previous external heating and nail penetration tests but also added the content of triggering thermal runaway by heating from the inside. These tests are all more stringent than the current standards.

Battery giants have taken swift action. Products such as CATL's ternary lithium battery "Qilin Battery" for EVs have met the new standards. An executive of the company believes that the new standards will play an important role in the industry and lead the development of safety technology.

BYD also said in late May that its lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery "Blade Battery", which is cheaper than ternary lithium batteries, has met the new standards.

In terms of automobile manufacturers, in addition to emerging enterprises XPeng Motors and Li Auto, the sedan "N7" launched by Nissan through its local joint - venture brand Dongfeng Nissan also meets the new standards. A relevant person in charge of Dongfeng Nissan said, "The new standards are within the expected range, and the design (of the vehicle and battery system) has not been changed."

There have been frequent fire accidents related to EVs. Especially in South Korea, in August 2024, an EV of Germany's Mercedes - Benz Group caught fire, triggering a large - scale fire. The company revealed that this EV was equipped with a battery produced by Chinese company Farasis Energy.

According to data from South Korean research company SNE Research, in the global share of EV battery installations (from January to April 2025, excluding China where the EV penetration rate is high), the top three Chinese companies, including CATL, together account for 38.7%, on par with South Korean companies which account for 39.7%. If such fires continue to occur, it may damage consumers' trust in "Made in China", leading to a decline in the market share of Chinese enterprises.

The situation in China is similar. In China, new energy vehicles such as EVs and plug - in hybrid vehicles (PHVs) account for 50% of the total sales of passenger cars. Tang Jin, a senior researcher in the Business Solutions Department of Mizuho Bank, said that in order to further promote the popularization of new energy vehicles, it is necessary to promote them to consumers who are skeptical about safety. This is one of the backgrounds for formulating the new standards.

For the Chinese government, another goal is to gain global leadership.

At the "World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP29)" under the United Nations, the formulation of global technical standards for EV safety is being discussed. In addition to Japan, Europe, and the United States, China is also a member of this meeting.

If China implements standards with new test methods, it is "expected to provide objective test data related to thermal runaway" in the discussions (according to a Japanese - funded automobile manufacturer). Based on the test data, if China's new standards are evaluated as relatively high in the world, it will be beneficial to the overseas business of Chinese EV and battery manufacturers.

In addition, there is also competition among Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean enterprises in the development of all - solid - state batteries, which are regarded as the next - generation EV batteries. It is expected that all - solid - state batteries will start to be installed in EVs around 2030. Against this background, China shows the intention to gain leadership in lithium - ion batteries and consolidate its overseas foundation during this period.

On the other hand, implementing strict standards also comes with pain. The New Energy Vehicle Industry Association in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, estimates that it will cost more than 500 million yuan for small and medium - sized battery enterprises to produce batteries that meet these standards. Due to their inability to bear such costs, it is estimated that the production capacity of domestic battery factories in China will decrease by 30% by 2027.

Since 2022, China has approved nearly 20 vehicle - mounted battery production enterprises. The formulation of these new standards may become an opportunity for the elimination of vehicle - mounted battery enterprises that have increased with the expansion of the new energy vehicle market.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Nikkei Chinese Net" (ID: rijingzhongwenwang), author: Tianbian Jing. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.