China: traction battery safety requirements
GB 38031, the mandatory national standard for traction battery safety, sets mechanical, electrical and thermal safety requirements for battery packs. Thermal propagation — runaway spreading from cell to pack — is one of the most closely watched tests, aimed at giving occupants time to escape.
For service work, the implication is straightforward: any pack disassembly or collision repair must restore the original safety performance. Sealing, insulation, connector torque and thermal management condition are all part of it.
That is why airtightness and insulation checks are part of our standard workflow — they map directly to the failure modes the standard targets.
Recycling and second-life use
China's interim measures on traction battery recycling establish extended producer responsibility and lifecycle traceability: battery codes, flows and status must be traceable.
The GB/T 34015 series on vehicle battery recycling covers residual-energy testing, dismantling and second-life use. For workshops this means retired or replaced packs cannot simply be discarded — records and destinations are required.
In second-life applications, health and consistency data determine whether a pack can move into storage use — exactly what diagnostic equipment provides.
Overseas: the EU Battery Regulation
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 introduces phased requirements for batteries placed on the EU market, including carbon footprint declarations, recycled content, due diligence and the battery passport.
For exporters, lifecycle data capability is becoming part of market access; for service providers, traceable test and repair records are the basis for working with overseas customers.
Effective dates and scope should be checked against the official text; consult a compliance specialist for export projects.
What it means for workshops and storage sites
In practice, rules translate into proof: proof that testing was done, repairs were compliant and battery destinations are clear. Paper logs struggle to meet this; exportable electronic records are becoming standard.
Workshops should keep at least: vehicle and pack ID, test parameters and screenshots, work performed and parts replaced, airtightness and insulation results, technician and timestamp. Storage sites should also keep inspection intervals, balancing results and capacity calibration data.
Mottuum equipment stores and exports data and links it to pack IDs by QR code, supporting these record requirements directly.
