File photo: IC

Companies that produce or sell new-energy vehicles (NEV) in China must report to market regulators within 12 hours if their products are involved in incidents such as billowing smoke or catching fire.

The move aims to strengthen supervision of the safe recall of NEVs and standardize the sector's accident-reporting system, an industry analyst said.

According to a recent notice from the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), companies that learn of any such incidents involving vehicles they produce, sell or import in the Chinese market have a maximum of 12 hours to file a basic report.

If such an incident causes casualties or has a large social impact, the reporting time will be just six hours, read the notice.  

After any incidents involving fire, companies should take the initiative to investigate vehicles of the same model, same batch or using the same components for fire dangers.

If such a danger exists, a recall should be announced as quickly as possible. The SAMR will also initiate a defect investigation based on the accident probe and risk assessment, and issue a risk warning if necessary.

Compared with internal combustion cars, NEVs are new and it's common for consumers to have concerns about the sector due to recent reports that some cars spontaneously ignited, said Wu Shuocheng, a Shanghai-based independent analyst.

In April, a Tesla Model S self-ignited in Shanghai. The US-based  carmaker's response was that a battery had short-circuited.

In June, Chinese electric carmaker NIO recalled nearly 5,000 ES8 electric sport utility vehicles for "spontaneous combustion" battery risk.

Wu told the Global Times on Wednesday that "the rules will help ease consumers' concerns and secure sound development of the industry, since the growth of NEVs is the future."

If companies make a late or fraudulent report, or don't make any report at all, the SAMR will make a public notification or impose penalties according to relevant laws and regulations.