Nissan to Cut Production at Its Kyushu Plant Due to Declining Middle East Exports

The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment announced on July 1 that it has finalized a revised public EV charging fee system, which will raise rates for ultra-fast chargers and lower rates for slow chargers. The new system will take effect on August 1. Under the revised plan, chargers with output below 30 kW will be charged at KRW 295.0/kWh, while chargers of 30 kW to below 50 kW will be charged at KRW 307.2/kWh. Chargers of 50 kW to below 100 kW will be charged at KRW 325.6/kWh, those of 100 kW to below 200 kW at KRW 348.4/kWh, and those of 200 kW or above at KRW 393.1/kWh.

On July 1, two mandatory national standards—"Safety Requirements for Traction Batteries of Electric Vehicles" (GB 38031-2025) and "Safety Requirements for Electric Vehicles" (GB 18384-2025)—will officially come into force. This marks the first time in China's new energy vehicle sector that both battery‑specific and vehicle‑level core safety standards take effect on the same day. The new battery standard establishes "no fire, no explosion" as a mandatory requirement, replacing the previous technical threshold of "providing an alarm signal 5 minutes before fire or explosion." The updated standard also adds tests including bottom impact testing and safety testing after fast‑charging cycles. The vehicle standard requires the installation of an independent physical one‑button emergency power‑off device. The two standards will be implemented in phases: all newly applied vehicle models submitted after July 1 must fully comply with the new rules, while models already approved and on sale are granted a one‑year transition period until full compliance is required by July 2027. Industry players across the supply chain have already entered the final stages of certification review and production‑line retrofitting.

On June 29, the China Automotive Battery Industry Innovation Alliance and the Zhongguancun Energy Storage Industry Technology Alliance jointly issued the "Initiative on Regulating Supplier Payment Terms for Power and Energy Storage Battery Enterprises." The initiative focuses on procurement transactions between power and energy storage battery and system integrator companies and their suppliers, offering specific recommendations on order confirmation and modification, delivery and acceptance, payment and settlement, and contract duration. On the same day, several companies including CATL, FinDreams Battery, Sunwoda Power, EVE Energy, and Hyperstrong sequentially announced their support. An official from the First Department of Equipment Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) stated that this initiative is an important step in implementing the "Regulation on Ensuring Payment to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises." It specifies requirements for order confirmation and modification, delivery and acceptance, and payment and settlement. For example, it stipulates that the acceptance period for materials and components should generally not exceed 7 working days; the payment cycle for SME suppliers should generally begin on the date of delivery or acceptance; it recommends that all payments to SMEs be made in cash; and it encourages both supply and demand parties to establish stable cooperative relationships and to sign long‑term framework agreements based on their existing cooperation.