Chinese EV brand Chery will replace the whole car if battery mishaps cause fire damage

It's the brand’s desperate attempt to win back customers’ trust.

By Shikhar Mehrotra Published July 8, 2026 12:08 PM

City, Urban, Architecture — Chery

Chinese automaker Chery just made one of the boldest warranty promises in the EV industry. If a battery fire damages your car, the customer will get a whole new one without any asterisks or fine print about fault.

It sure sounds like a marketing stunt, but the company is backing the claim with solid engineering.

So what exactly is Chery promising?

Chery launched what it calls the Rhino Battery Safety Program, which is backed by a 10 billion yuan ($1.47 billion) R&D push. As part of the program, battery casings are rated to handle a 1,500-joule underbody impact, which is 10 times China’s new state safety minimum.

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Cell-level testing includes a simultaneous 10-pin puncture with no recorded smoke or ignition, which is crucial for a company offering a lifetime warranty against fire damage.

On the manufacturing side, assembly areas are maintained at just 40 dust particles per cubic meter (0.5 micrometers or larger), and a 100-meter magnetic-levitation logistics line moves components through the facility without friction-based contamination.

Essentially, it’s the exceptionally high standards of testing and manufacturing that underpin the replacement warranty. The company also states that its existing test fleet of 43,000 vehicles has logged over 1.2 billion kilometers with zero battery-fire incidents (via CarNewsChina).

So why is Chery going this far in the first place?

I wouldn’t go as far as to say that this is a catch, but rather the honest part of the story behind the bold warranty policy.

Chery’s monthly domestic deliveries dropped from 51,417 units in June 2025 to 31,738 in May 2026, a 34.8% year-over-year decline, leaving it with just 2.1% of China’s domestic market. That’s what encouraged the brand to take such a drastic step.

When sales fall that hard, you either cut prices or raise the stakes on trust. Chery chose both, which looks like a desperate brand rescue mission.

Battery fire anxiety remains one of the biggest consumer hesitations in China’s EV market, where high-profile incidents receive intense social media coverage. With its Rhino Battery Safety Program, Chery is trying to gain back the customers’ trust.

Shikhar Mehrotra

News Writer

For more than five years, Shikhar has consistently simplified developments in the field of consumer tech and presented them…

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