In July 2024, China plans to update its crash safety performance assessment method ‘C-CNAP 2021’ to ‘C-NCAP 2024’.One of the major changes in C-NCAP 2024 is that the name of the three major assessment items, pedestrian protection, will be changed to ‘Vulnerable Road Users (VRU)’, The specific weight of the assessment will be increased from ‘15%’ to ‘25%’. The scope of protection will be expanded to include not only pedestrians but also motorcycles, in view of the increasing number of traffic accidents involving electric two-wheelers and electric bicycles, and the standards will be changed to be more appropriate for the traffic situation. On the other hand, the weighting of occupant protection and active safety will be reduced from 60% to 54% and from 25% to 21% respectively.

In the passenger car sector, manufacturers such as NIO, Beiqi, Shangqi, Changan, FAW and Geely are marketing EVs compatible with battery replacement technology. Furthermore, CATL, the largest battery manufacturer, announced its own battery replacement service brand EVOGO in January 2022. It has declared its entry into the battery replacement business. In the commercial vehicle sector, where progress in electrification has been slow, the adoption of battery-replaceable heavy-duty truck BEVs is also expanding rapidly, targeting the short-distance transport market. Furthermore, the battery replacement business for electric two-wheelers is also flourishing.

With the rapid expansion of the new energy vehicle (NEV) market in China, the BEV battery replacement market is expected to grow steadily: 2022 is said to be the first year of its popularisation, and according to the Chinese government announcement, the number of BEVs with battery replacement is over 150 000 (end of October 2021) and the number of battery replacement stations is approximately 1, The number of battery-changing stations amounts to approximately 1, 300 (as of the end of 2021). Unlike previous failed attempts by Better Place, Tesla and others to enter the market, this battery-switching boom is becoming more likely to solve the problems of user acceptance and business profitability.