Evaluation of the safety standards system of power batteries for electric vehicles in China

In recent years, electric vehicle safety incidents related to batteries have occurred frequently enough to question the adequacy of the current international safety standards. As the world's leading producer of batteries for electric vehicles, China has thus formulated its own national standards, but there are questions as to the unique value of these standards. This review paper analyzes the Chinese safety standards from the perspective of the battery materials, cells, modules, battery systems, battery management systems, and vehicles. The findings from the analysis of the Chinese standards is used to provide suggestions for building better international battery safety standards with recommendations for different battery levels, battery life cycle design and emerging battery technologies. •Analyzed China's safety standards in terms of multi-level of battery grouping.•The article reviews battery safety standards for design and manufacturing.•Standardization efforts in emerging battery tech have been considered.•Rational suggestions have been proposed for battery safety standardization efforts.