CHERY Black Sea Safety Challenge Officially Launches

Constanța, Romania, 22 September 2026 —As the 228 kg TIGGO 9 CSH battery was carefully lowered into a 1.2-metre-deep water tank, the CHERY Black Sea Safety Challenge officially launched today in Constanța, Romania, marking the first CHERY Global Safety Challenge to take place in Europe.

Journalists from 16 European countries, together with CHERY’s technical team and engineers from FEV, a Germany-based automotive engineering company, witnessed the start of the challenge.

TIGGO 9 CSH battery lowered into the saltwater tank.

24-Hour Saltwater Immersion Test Begins

Before immersion, the technical team conducted a series of baseline checks on this  34.46 kWh high-voltage battery, including a visual inspection of the battery pack, air-tightness, insulation resistance and state of charge, to establish the baseline against which the battery will be assessed following 24 hours of immersion.

The battery pack was then carefully lowered into the dedicated water tank and fully submerged in saltwater, the 24-hour test officially began.

The test uses a specially prepared saltwater environment. The test conditions are set at approximately 35‰ salinity, closer to that of open-ocean seawater. By applying a salinity condition, CHERY aims to further examine the battery’s water resistance and safety performance.

The technical team will continue to monitor the test throughout the immersion period. After 24 hours, the battery pack will be carefully lifted from the water and proceed to the next stage of inspection and verification.

TIGGO 9 CSH battery fully submerged in saltwater.

Bringing Safety Testing to European

CHERY Super Hybrid (CSH) technology has evolved through multiple generations of hybrid technology and has undergone testing and verification across a range of regions and markets worldwide. Its dedicated hybrid battery features a 2-millisecond high-voltage power cut-off, IP68 protection and has completed 100 reliability tests.

By bringing the Global Safety Challenge to Europe, CHERY aims to give European media and audience a more direct understanding of its approach to safety development and engineering verification for its CSH technologies.

“Safety cannot remain just a statement. It needs to be engineered, tested and verified.” - Aaron Zheng (Executive Deputy General Manager of CHERY Brand)

Aaron Zheng, Executive Deputy General Manager of CHERY Brand, speaks at the event.

With the battery now fully submerged in saltwater, the 24-hour countdown is officially underway. The technical team will continue with the testing process before moving to the next stage of inspection and vehicle function verification after 24 hours.

The CHERY Black Sea Safety Challenge is ongoing.