A salesperson introduces a car's features to a customer at a dealership in Qingdao, Shandong province. ZHANG YING/FOR CHINA DAILY
China is set to tighten quality oversight for the new energy vehicle sector, raising the mandatory durability road-test mileage to 30,000 kilometers — a level that matches the standard for gasoline cars.
The 15,000 km test was a temporary policy support measure for NEVs. The new unified standard signals the maturity of the NEV sector, said Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association.
A unified standard ensures that long-term reliability issues are thoroughly exposed and the same failure-judgment rules apply to all powertrains, Cui added.
The regulatory push comes as Chinese automakers rush to launch new and updated models while compressing development cycles. In the first five months of 2026, 542 models were launched — an average of 3.6 per day — even as overall domestic sales shrank 20 percent, said He Zhiqi, executive vice-president of BYD, in a July social-media post.
