On February 1, 2026, a core national standard directly related to the safe operation and data protection of electric vehicles—GB/T 32960.2-2025 "Technical Specification for Remote Service and Management Systems for Electric Vehicles Part 2: Onboard Terminals" —will be officially implemented.
If the power battery is likened to the power heart of an electric vehicle, then the on-board terminal (T-Box) serves as the vehicle's flight black box and data communication hub. It plays a critical role in real-time collection of operational data and its transmission to national regulatory platforms, constituting the first line of defense for electric vehicle safety monitoring.
1. Why Hardware Upgrades Are Necessary: The Inevitable Transition from 'Functional' to 'High-Performance' Solutions
With the rapid adoption of intelligent connected vehicles, vehicle data transmission volumes have grown exponentially, while cybersecurity attack risks continue to escalate. Concurrently, operational reliability requirements for vehicles in complex environments—including extreme cold, high temperatures, and intense electromagnetic interference—are becoming increasingly stringent.
The outdated 2016 standard has become inadequate for current industry requirements. GB/T 32960.2-2025 now transcends basic data transmission capabilities, focusing on three core enhancement dimensions:
l Data Security Hardware Protection
l Hardware Adaptability in Extreme Environmental Conditions
l Long-term hardware reliability
This represents not only an iterative upgrade of technical standards, but also a robust safeguard for the life and property safety of every vehicle owner, as well as their data privacy.
2. Three Major Hardware Core Upgrades: Strengthening the Safety Foundation for Electric Vehicles
1. Security hardware upgrade: Installation of a "physical security lock" for vehicle data
In the information security framework of intelligent vehicles, software encryption alone exhibits significant limitations. The new standard mandates that in-vehicle terminals be equipped with hardware security modules to mitigate data theft risks at the physical level.
In compliance with Clause 4.2.8 standards and GM/T 0008 specifications, in-vehicle terminals must integrate professional security chips with Security Level 2 or EAL4+ and above, providing triple-layer hard protection:
1) Key strength doubled: The key length must be at least 256 bits, with private keys being non-readable and tamper-proof within the chip to physically prevent hacker cracking and theft.
2) Security activation mechanism: The terminal must complete initial activation via a hardware-secured automotive chip, binding the chip identifier, public key, and vehicle VIN number, and completing identity authentication with digital signature.
3) Physical Anti-Dismantling: The protection objective has evolved from "anti-software cracking" to "anti-hardware dismantling", ensuring that even if the terminal is physically disassembled, the core key cannot be obtained.
2. Electrical and Environmental Adaptability: Withstanding Extreme Conditions of Extreme Temperature Variations
Electric vehicle driving scenarios encompass complex environments such as extreme cold, scorching heat, high altitude, and strong electromagnetic interference, necessitating hardware with exceptional durability. The new standard establishes stricter temperature/humidity and electrical requirements for installation locations (e.g., direct exposure areas in passenger cabins) and introduces multiple extreme testing protocols:
3. Reliability life upgrade: 8-year full lifecycle "service commitment"
Automobiles are long-cycle durable consumer goods, where hardware lifespan directly impacts the overall vehicle usage experience. Appendix A of the new standard explicitly defines the temperature cycling durability life test method and introduces the Coffin-Manson model for scientifically calculating test cycle counts.
Through professional accelerated aging tests, the on-board terminal must withstand usage intensity equivalent to at least 8 years of the vehicle's full lifecycle, ensuring stable operation throughout the vehicle's service life until retirement.
3. Practical Impacts of the New Standards on Automakers and Consumers
1. For automakers: An 18-month rectification window period with comprehensive tightening of hardware selection criteria
The standard was released on August 1, 2025, and officially implemented on February 1, 2026, leaving automakers with only an 18-month rectification period. Subsequent vehicle compliance testing will fully enforce the new national standard. When selecting on-board terminals, automakers must rigorously review core qualifications of suppliers, including security chip models and environmental adaptability test reports.
2. For consumers: Dual enhancement of safety and experience
1) Enhanced privacy security: Sensitive data such as location and driving trajectories are protected at the hardware level, significantly reducing the risk of unauthorized data theft.
2) Enhanced vehicle reliability: Remote monitoring demonstrates superior stability under extreme weather conditions and complex electromagnetic environments, while after-sales fault diagnosis achieves higher precision and efficiency.
3) Enhanced security assurance: End-to-end stable operation with continuous online remote services and security monitoring.
4. Service Support for Zhongle Certification
The release and implementation of GB/T 32960.2-2025 is not only an update of a national standard, but also a key milestone for China's new energy vehicle industry to transition from scale leadership to quality and safety leadership.
By enforcing stringent specifications for in-vehicle terminal hardware, the new standard establishes robust technical safety safeguards for every electric vehicle. In the future, when your beloved car maintains stable cloud communication even in extreme cold or heat, it is precisely these high-standard hardware components that provide silent protection.
Zhongle Certification has fully mastered the technical requirements and testing methods of the new standard, and is equipped with advanced testing equipment. If you have any questions about the new standard or need product testing and certification services, please feel free to contact us!
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