Since 8 May 2026, multiple social media platforms have been circulating news of regulatory talks involving the new energy vehicle industry, with the issue of ‘battery locking’ in OTA (Over-the-Air) updates for new energy vehicles continuing to escalate, leading to a surge in user complaints. Regulatory authorities reportedly summoned eight new energy vehicle companies involved, with three placed under investigation and two having urgently withdrawn controversial OTA update packages. However, on 9 May, all eight companies rumoured to be involved (BYD, Tesla, XPeng Motors, Li Auto, NIO, Seres, Geely, and GAC Aion) denied being summoned.
This rumor did not arise out of thin air. According to media tracing, the false information originated on 28 March 2026, from some independent media accounts. These accounts maliciously altered the dates of policy documents from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the State Administration for Market Regulation (AMR) in 2025, fabricated data of ‘over 12,000 complaints in a single month,’ and then pieced together a list of eight companies to fabricate the story of being summoned for ‘battery locking.’ Initially, this content received few reads, but it was captured and reused by AI question-and-answer tools, spreading continuously on social media platforms. Since April, multiple media outlets reprinted it without verification, further amplifying the impact of the rumors until it became a widely discussed online controversy.
On 9 May 2026, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers officially refuted the rumors, clarifying that the online content had no official source and was seriously inconsistent with the facts. On the same day, CCTV.com issued a correction, clarifying that its previous statement was ambiguous. The statement that ‘eight automakers were summoned for talks’ referred to ‘from 2020 to the present, eight automakers have been summoned for talks due to issues such as abnormal acceleration, battery fires, and OTA upgrades. Three have been placed under investigation for violations, and two have withdrawn controversial upgrade packages and promised restoration.’ The eight automakers involved also issued statements denying being summoned for talks or placed under investigation, and some companies have gathered evidence and will pursue legal action against those spreading the rumors.
Although the rumors about the regulatory summons are untrue, the issue of battery locking is indeed a real problem in the new energy vehicle industry. ‘Battery locking’ refers to automakers remotely modifying battery management system parameters via OTA updates, limiting the battery’s charging capacity, reducing discharge power, and lowering charging current without explicitly informing owners, which severely impacts daily use. Automakers claim this is to improve battery safety and reduce the risk of spontaneous combustion. Complaints about reduced range and power due to battery locking have remained consistently high on complaint platforms, a key reason why rumors spread so quickly.
In March of this year, MIIT and AMR jointly issued the ‘Notice on Regulating the Over-the-Air (OTA) Upgrade Behavior of New Energy Vehicles.’ The notice outlines prohibitions on OTA upgrades: strictly prohibiting ‘power locking’ and downgrading, silent forced upgrades, and concealing defects to evade recalls.
The rumor has also exposed multiple problems. For certain independent media, fabricating information and piecing together facts for traffic shows a disregard for factual accuracy. For content platforms, lax reviews of AI-generated content have allowed rumors to spread at low cost. For some media outlets, reprinting content without verification has resulted in failure to fulfill their information oversight responsibilities. For automakers, past lack of transparency in OTA upgrades and poor after-sales communication have created a gap in user trust.
By Felicity Jin, Researcher