MIIT Mandates 2026 NEV Safety Inspections, Requires Fire Incident Reports Within 24 Hours

On May 21, the Equipment Industry Development Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a "Notice on Carrying Out the 2026 Safety Hazard Inspection for New Energy Vehicles," requiring new energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturers to conduct safety hazard inspections of their products and submit inspection reports by August 31. The inspection covers five key areas, including product quality and safety—specifically focusing on the safety of power battery systems and overall NEV quality and safety. Regarding vehicle quality and safety, companies must inspect the functional safety and safety of the intended functionality (SOTIF) of combined driver assistance systems. This includes examining potential issues such as sensor failures, decision-making system malfunctions, actuator system faults, insufficient system functionality or performance, and human misuse. Companies are required to develop detailed inspection plans based on the characteristics of each vehicle model, collect relevant data, and promptly mitigate identified risks. Additionally, companies must assess quality and safety risks under extreme weather conditions (e.g., heavy rain and other natural disasters) or special operating environments (e.g., high temperature, extreme cold, and high humidity). This assessment should cover safety during vehicle start-up and driving, battery cooling system integrity, insulation system reliability, and other related aspects. Companies must also implement corrective actions based on real-world usage findings. Regarding fire or combustion incidents involving NEVs, the Notice stipulates that manufacturers must report basic incident information within 24 hours of occurrence. If the incident results in fatalities or significant public impact, the report must be submitted within 12 hours. Within five days, companies must provide detailed incident information, including the vehicle’s unique identifiers, technical specifications, on-site records, descriptions of events before and after ignition, firefighting and rescue procedures, maintenance and usage history, and data from the company’s monitoring platform covering the day of the incident and the preceding three months. Within 15 days, companies must upload a comprehensive technical analysis report covering incident details and response measures, vehicle background information, after-sales service records, technical documentation on the power battery, vehicle forensic analysis, platform data interpretation, root cause analysis, and proposed corrective actions. Enterprises that fail to report as required, conceal incidents, submit false information, or refuse to cooperate with investigations will face penalties commensurate with the severity of their violations. These may include regulatory interviews, public notifications, orders to rectify within a specified timeframe, and, in serious cases, suspension or revocation of the vehicle’s listing in the official Product Announcement.