Latest Announcement on Technical Requirements for New Energy Special Purpose Vehicles Eligible for Purchase Tax Exemption:
       Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the Ministry of Finance, and the State Taxation Administration (hereinafter referred to as the three departments) jointly issued the Announcement on Adjusting the Technical Requirements for New Energy Vehicle Products Eligible for Purchase Tax Exemption (MIIT, Ministry of Finance, State Taxation Administration Announcement No. 32 of 2023, hereinafter referred to as the Technical Requirements Announcement), which specifies the technical requirements for new energy vehicle products eligible for purchase tax exemption. To facilitate better understanding and implementation of the Technical Requirements Announcement, the responsible official of the First Department of Equipment Industry of MIIT provided an interpretation of the Announcement. Among these, the requirements for the new energy special purpose vehicle section have also been raised.

Taking into account technological progress and future development, the Technical Requirements Announcement moderately raises the requirements for mature technologies that have been widely applied, and gives preferential support to new technologies and new models such as low-temperature attenuation and battery swapping, which is conducive to improving product technical levels and promoting model innovation. Details are as follows:

First, the existing technical indicator requirements such as vehicle energy consumption, driving range, and power battery system energy density have been raised. For fuel cell vehicles, in light of the progress of fuel cell vehicle demonstration work, the indicator requirements for pure hydrogen driving range, system rated power, and the ratio of system rated power to drive motor rated power have been optimized, and indicator requirements such as fuel cell startup temperature, fuel cell stack rated power density, and system rated power density have been added.

Second, a new technical indicator requirement for low-temperature range attenuation has been added. To guide industry enterprises in continuously improving the low-temperature resistance of new energy vehicle products, the Technical Requirements Announcement proposes that for battery electric passenger cars and N1 category battery electric goods vehicles tested in accordance with “Annex A” of GB/T 18386.1 "Electric Vehicles—Energy Consumption and Range—Test Procedures—Part 1: Light-Duty Vehicles," if the low-temperature range attenuation rate does not exceed 35%, the battery system energy density may be relaxed to 95Wh/kg, and the driving range requirement for battery electric passenger cars may be relaxed to 120 km.

Third, the relevant requirements for battery swapping model vehicles have been clarified. The battery swapping model has certain advantages in reducing vehicle purchase costs, eliminating range anxiety, and improving safety levels. To support the innovative development of the battery swapping model, in light of industry development and standard implementation, the Technical Requirements Announcement clarifies that relevant models must meet the GB/T 40032 "Electric Vehicles—Battery Swap Safety Requirements" standard. At the same time, to ensure genuine battery swapping and usability, applicant enterprises are required to provide supporting materials proving battery swapping service capability.

As for the implementation timeline requirements of the Technical Requirements Announcement, models newly applying to enter the "Catalogue of New Energy Vehicle Models Eligible for Purchase Tax Exemption" (hereinafter referred to as the "Tax Exemption Catalogue") from January 1, 2024 must meet the requirements of this Technical Requirements Announcement. Models that had already entered the "Catalogue of New Energy Vehicle Models Exempt from Purchase Tax" before December 31, 2023 and remain valid will be automatically transferred to the Tax Exemption Catalogue and may still enjoy the purchase tax exemption policy during the period from January 1, 2024 to May 31, 2024. From June 1, 2024, models that do not comply with this Technical Requirements Announcement will be removed from the Tax Exemption Catalogue. Relevant models need to complete policy transition compliance work within the transition period.

Note that historical model materials must be supplemented and submitted in a timely manner. Historical models transferred to the Tax Exemption Catalogue must promptly supplement and submit the "tax exemption" and "battery swapping model" labels. Among them, battery swapping model vehicles must also provide third-party test reports meeting standards such as GB/T 40032 "Electric Vehicles—Battery Swap Safety Requirements," as well as supporting materials such as battery swapping service guarantees. Tax authorities will process tax exemption procedures based on the relevant labels.

The raised requirements for new energy vehicles are conducive to stabilizing the special purpose vehicle market, guiding technological progress, promoting energy-saving consumption, and ensuring product safety.