This study examines the impact of ESG rating events on innovation in China's new energy vehicle industry. The baseline Difference-in-Differences (DID) analysis demonstrates that ESG ratings promote innovation among new energy vehicle companies. A series of robustness tests, including parallel trend analysis and placebo tests, support the baseline results. The channel tests in the mechanism analyses indicate that ESG ratings promote innovation in new energy vehicle enterprises by increasing R&D investment and the number of R&D personnel. Other mechanism analyses suggest that ESG ratings also enhance innovation output and quality by stimulating green patent applications, encouraging joint patent applications, and increasing the number of high-quality patents.