Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially issued the "Safety Requirements for Power Batteries for Electric Vehicles" (GB 38031-2025), which is known as the "strictest battery safety order in history". For the first time, "no fire, no explosion" has been upgraded from the company's technical reserves to a mandatory requirement, which has completely ended the industry's fluke mentality about the risk of thermal runaway, marking the entry of power battery safety into the "zero tolerance" era.

As a world-leading new energy innovation technology company, CATL has responded positively to the new national standard for power batteries, saying that this requires joint efforts from car companies and battery manufacturers to complete.

(Photo source: CATL official website)

GB 38031-2025 implementation time:

New models applying for type approval: implementation from July 1, 2026.

Models that have obtained type approval: implementation from July 1, 2027.

GB 38031-2025 main revisions:

1. Revised thermal diffusion test, further clarified the temperature requirements of the battery to be tested, power on and off status, observation time, and vehicle test conditions.

Technical requirements: from "providing a thermal event alarm signal 5 minutes before fire or explosion" to "no fire, no explosion (still need to alarm), smoke does not cause harm to passengers"

2. Added bottom impact test to examine the protection ability of the battery bottom after impact.

Technical requirements: no leakage, shell rupture, fire or explosion, and meet the insulation resistance requirements.

3. Added safety test after fast charging cycle to examine the safety of power batteries after long-term fast charging cycle.

Technical requirements: external short circuit test after 300 fast charging cycles, requiring no fire and explosion.

In addition, GB38031-2025 clarifies that this standard applies to power batteries for electric vehicles, that is, non-drive batteries are not applicable; improve insulation resistance requirements, add insulation resistance requirements for battery systems including AC circuits; increase vibration test SOC from no less than 50% to the highest SOC; improve extrusion test requirements, and increase insulation resistance related judgment conditions.

CATL: Meet the requirements of the new national standard 6 years ahead of schedule

As early as 2020, CATL proposed and mass-produced batteries equipped with the first generation of non-thermal diffusion (NP) technology, achieving no fire and no explosion, meeting the requirements of the new national standard 6 years ahead of schedule. At present, CATL is still continuing to iterate NP technology, including NP2.0, which can achieve active separation of high voltage and flue gas, and NP3.0, which can achieve "thermal runaway without smoke".

According to CATL's 2024 annual report, the company's total revenue for the year was 362 billion yuan; net profit was 50.745 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15%; R&D expenses were 18.6 billion yuan, and R&D investment reached a new high. The company has more than 20,000 R&D personnel, and an average of 16.8 patents are born every day.

In 2024, the company achieved lithium-ion battery sales of 475GWh, a year-on-year increase of 21.79%, of which power battery system sales were 381GWh, a year-on-year increase of 18.85%; energy storage battery system sales were 93GWh, a year-on-year increase of 34.32%.

CATL's global market share of power batteries reached 37.9%, ranking first in the world for eight consecutive years; energy storage battery shipments reached 110GWh, a year-on-year increase of 48.6%, ranking first in the world for four consecutive years (SNE Research data).

CATL adheres to the "high standard" leadership and continues to inject strong momentum into the high-quality development of the industry. In 2024, CATL launched the third-generation NP (No Propagation) technology, which can further achieve "no smoke" on the basis of ensuring that the battery system does not catch fire or spread after thermal runaway.

In response to the lack of equipment testing for large-scale energy storage systems, CATL established the Xiamen Empirical Energy Storage Technology Research Institute to build a complete set of testing capabilities and guide the high-quality development of the energy storage industry.

Focusing on the essence of vehicle-grid interaction, CATL proposed the concept of two-way integration and interaction between batteries and grids (Battery to Grid, B2G), looking forward to allowing batteries to release multi-dimensional economic and social value. In addition, CATL provides technology and service support to global automakers and battery companies through the LRS (Licence Royalty Service, technology authorization) model, promoting the widespread implementation of high-standard development samples around the world.

The most comprehensive and advanced product matrix

The world's largest lithium-ion battery production capacity

Value extension from products to services

CATL attaches great importance to sustainable development and fulfilling social responsibilities. In recent years, its ESG rating has steadily increased, with MSCI ratings reaching AA and S&P corporate sustainability assessment scores of 58 points, both of which are at the leading level in the industry.

CATL released its "zero-carbon strategy" in 2023, which is to achieve carbon neutrality in core operations by 2025 and carbon neutrality in the value chain by 2035.

In order to promote the realization of zero-carbon goals in all aspects, the company has carried out energy-saving transformation and renewable energy utilization in production bases, actively promoted the construction of zero-carbon factories and the development of renewable energy projects, and increased the proportion of zero-carbon electricity use.

As of the end of the reporting period, the proportion of zero-carbon electricity in the company's core operations increased to 74.51%, and it has 9 "zero-carbon factories", and the greenhouse gas emission intensity per unit product has decreased by 20.97%. The company has established recycling bases covering the world and formed a large-scale and extensive recycling network system, with an annual processing capacity of 270,000 tons of waste batteries, and the recovery rate of nickel, cobalt and manganese metals can reach 99.6%, and the recovery rate of lithium metals can reach 93.8%.

In the future, CATL will seize the development opportunities of the global energy revolution and scientific and technological revolution, adhere to the concept of "innovation-driven, green development, open cooperation, sharing and win-win", make every effort to build a new energy industry ecosystem, firmly promote digitalization, globalization, and low-carbon operations, and achieve high-quality development of the company.

Author：Qinger