CHINA has released a draft of new regulations governing vehicle safety standards, addressing new risks arising from the rapid adoption of new energy vehicles (NEVs) and assisted driving functions. The new rules, drafted by the Ministry of Public Security and released for public consultation on the National Public Service Platform for Standards Information on Wednesday, specify that a car’s acceleration from zero to 100 kilometers per hour should take more than five seconds. Pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid EVs must be equipped with a pedal misapplication prevention function to avoid unintended acceleration caused by drivers mistakenly pressing the accelerator instead of the brake. When the vehicle is stationary or moving at low speed, the system should detect such errors, reduce power output, and issue warnings. Regarding battery safety, the draft requires pure electric and plug-in hybrid EVs to monitor the status of the power battery and provide clear audio or visual alerts in case of thermal runaway. In addition, for pure electric or hybrid buses longer than six meters, the battery compartment must not catch fire or explode within five minutes after such an alert is triggered. Drivers of vehicles with assisted driving functions may only activate these systems after completing system-use training and verifying their identity via biometric recognition or account login. When the assisted driving function is active and the vehicle is traveling at speeds above 10 km/h, the system must continuously monitor whether the driver is performing driving-related tasks, using at least hand-off and gaze-off detection. Moreover, when the vehicle is in assisted driving mode and traveling over 10 km/h, the driver-side display screen must be turned off, and the use of entertainment videos and games should be prohibited. According to data from the China Passenger Car Association, nearly 78% of new energy passenger vehicles sold in China during the first four months of this year were equipped with Level 2 or higher assisted driving capabilities. In response to concerns following accidents with casualties involving hidden or electronic door handles, the draft states that passenger doors must be equipped with mechanical release handles both inside and outside, as well as an emergency interior handle. In the event of a collision, doors on the non-impact side must automatically unlock, even if the vehicle is locked. The rules will be made official after a six-month period of public review. The latest data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows that NEV sales in China rose 33% year-on-year to 12.94 million units in the first ten months of the year, accounting for nearly 47% of total vehicle sales during that period.(SD-Agencies) | 