The New Chinese EV Safety Standard: A Strategic Power Play

In a move that will reshape the global electric vehicle (EV) market, China published GB 38031-2025, the world’s most stringent standard for EV battery safety. The implications are vast, encompassing technological, economic, and geopolitical aspects.

What’s New in GB 38031-2025?

The standard introduces several new safety requirements:

• The battery system cannot catch fire or explode for at least two hours after the thermal event.
• During this period, no smoke can enter the passenger cabin.
• Batteries must undergo 300 consecutive fast-charging cycles, from 20% to 80% State of Charge (SOC), within a maximum of 15 minutes.
• New tests were added for thermal events caused by internal heating sources.

These requirements exceed the current regulations of both the EU and the US.

A Strategic Outmaneuver

China’s move is a calculated strategy that positions its OEMS and battery manufacturers as global safety leaders, giving them a significant competitive edge.

Utilizing regulatory frameworks to protect and promote local industries is a well-known tactic employed by all industrialized nations. What’s remarkable is that China has now flipped the script, out-regulating the regulators. This time, it’s the global market that must catch up.

In addition to giving Chinese manufacturers a competitive edge in EV safety, the new standard will likely accelerate the transition of European OEMs towards LFP batteries, most of which are supplied by Chinese companies.

Ironically, European OEMs have been transitioning to LFP to lower their prices and –  you guessed it – compete with Chinese vehicles.

Who Will be Affected?

The immediate impact is on Japanese and South Korean battery giants, which supply a significant portion of the NMC batteries for Western OEMs.

Although energy-dense, NMC batteries are less thermally stable than LFP batteries. Changing them so they comply with the new safety standard is challenging and requires substantial R&D efforts

Chinese OEMs, on the other hand, almost universally deploy LFP batteries. They can more easily meet the new standard (some, such as BYD’s blade batteries, already comply with it).

The Japanese and South Korean Tier 1s are already working hard to respond, and many are turning to partners with proven safety capabilities, including Carrar.

Carrar: Ready for GB 38031-2025 – Today

For Western OEMs, this is a critical juncture: the automotive sector accounts for a sizable portion of their economy, and consumer safety expectations will now be measured against the new gold standard.

At Carrar, we’ve engineered our battery systems with safety first, so we are adhere to GB 38031-2025:

• Our thermal management system completely prevents fires and explosions during exothermic events.
• We’ve already qualified our packs to withstand numerous ultra-fast charging cycles.

In addition, we offer solutions across all chemistries (NMC, LFP) and formats (pouch and hard case) without increasing the form factor. We are collaborating with Tier 1 suppliers and OEMs in Europe and the US to meet the new standard.

What’s Next?

GB 38031-2025 is likely to become a new global benchmark, accelerating the West’s transition to safer NMC batteries.

The new standard may also likely increase reliance on Chinese batteries, but with the right partners and a forward-looking strategy, Western OEMs can still close the gap and maintain a leading position.

At Carrar, we are helping OEMs and Tier 1s meet GB 38031-2025 and build a future of safe, high-performance EV batteries.