Two mandatory national standards governing electric vehicle safety in China will take effect on July 1: Electric Vehicles Safety Requirements (GB18384—2025) and Electric Vehicles Traction Battery Safety Requirements (GB38031—2025). Compared with previous versions, the revised standards place greater emphasis on crash protection, thermal runaway control, and safety redundancy under extreme operating conditions. For vehicle-level safety, the new rules explicitly require a physical disconnection mechanism for high-voltage circuits. Automakers must ensure reliable electrical isolation between the vehicle’s high-voltage system and the traction battery pack to reduce residual risk following accidents. Unlike earlier software-based power cutoff approaches, the concept of a “one-key power off” is redefined as a hardware-level physical interruption device. It must be capable of activation through a single operation when the vehicle is stationary and not charging or discharging. The revisions to battery safety standards are more granular. The updated national standard shifts the core objective from “early warning before thermal runaway” toward direct outcome-based safety requirements. Technical requirements have been adjusted from providing thermal event alerts at least five minutes before potential fire or explosion to stricter criteria, including no fire, no explosion (with alarm still required), and prevention of passenger injury from smoke exposure. New testing dimensions have also been added. These include a bottom impact test to assess battery protection capability under underbody collision scenarios, as well as a post-fast-charging cycle safety test requiring no fire or explosion after 300 rapid charge cycles followed by external short-circuit testing. In addition, the new standard clarifies its scope of application as traction batteries used in electric vehicles, excluding non-drive batteries. Requirements for insulation resistance have been further refined, with new criteria for AC electrical systems introduced and additional specifications added for compression testing conditions. These revisions are designed to better align testing conditions with real-world usage environments. More explicit requirements now cover temperature conditions, power-on/power-off states, and vehicle installation constraints, shifting battery safety validation from isolated laboratory scenarios toward multi-condition testing coverage. Notably, the standards were developed with broad industry participation across the automotive and battery supply chains. On the vehicle side, participants include BYD, Geely, Xpeng, Xiaomi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, and Volkswagen. On the battery side, companies include CATL, BYD Battery, CALB, Gotion High-tech, EVE Energy, and Sunwoda. Against the backdrop of rising EV penetration, battery safety and high-voltage system reliability are increasingly becoming central priorities for regulators and industry stakeholders.