New EV and Battery Safety Standards Take Effect July 1, Mandating Physical "One-Click Power Cut" for First Time

Effective July 1, 2025, two mandatory national standards—the "Safety Requirements for Electric Vehicles" (GB 18384–2025) and the "Safety Requirements for Traction Batteries Used in Electric Vehicles" (GB 38031–2025)—will officially come into force. The first standard requires electric vehicles to physically disconnect the high-voltage circuit of the entire vehicle or the drive system from the high-voltage circuit of the rechargeable energy storage system. For the first time, it explicitly defines the "one-touch power cutoff" device as a physical disconnection mechanism, replacing previous software-controlled power cutoff methods. This function must be activatable by a single driver action—such as a tap or long press—while the vehicle is stationary and not in charging or discharging mode. The second standard imposes stricter safety requirements on batteries, revising the thermal runaway criterion to "no fire, no explosion," and stipulating that emitted smoke must not harm occupants. It also introduces a new bottom-impact test to evaluate the battery’s resistance to mechanical shock and adds an external short-circuit test after fast-charging cycles—requiring the battery to still meet the "no fire, no explosion" safety condition after undergoing 300 fast-charging cycles. Both standards were jointly developed with participation from numerous vehicle manufacturers and battery companies.