Some electric cars can accelerate very, very briskly, but China is looking to make it slightly harder to warp the space-time continuum.
China’s Ministry of Public Security has published a draft of its updated national standard for motor vehicle safety.
According to Carscoops, one section of the draft states that all new vehicles must be “in a state where the 100km/h acceleration time is not less than 5 seconds” every time it is started up.
This draft rule seemingly address the growing availability and accessibility of cars — mostly EVs — which can achieve hypercar-levels of acceleration for a fraction of the cost.
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Vehicles like the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra (1.98s), Zeekr 001 FR (2.02s), Tesla Model S Plaid (2.1s), and BYD Yangwang U9 (2.36s) have all caught the eye with their breathtaking acceleration.
If this rule is passed unchanged, it will be interesting whether manufacturers will make drivers dive deep into on-screen menus or perform a secret hand shake to access their car’s full acceleration potential, or whether it will be accessible through a simple button press.
The draft of the updated standard also addresses other safety concerns.
While there’s no ban on flush-fitting pop-out door handles as previously suggested, according to Car News China there are provisions to ensure an internal and external mechanical door release is fitted to every door, hatch and boot lid. Doors must also automatically unlock in the event of an accident or thermal battery incident.
Power circuits must also be shut down in plug-in hybrid and EVs whenever airbags deploy, or if the car’s speed changes by more than 25km/h in under 150 milliseconds in any direction.
Batteries must be equipped with pressure relief and pressure balancing systems, and come with continuous monitoring that provides clear alerts to passengers when there’s a thermal event.
For cars with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), these features can only be used after a biometric or online login has confirmed the driver has sat through all the relevant training courses. When assistance systems are used together to provide a level of autonomous operation over 10km/h, the vehicle will check driver engagement via hands-off detection and gaze monitoring.