Fatal Xiaomi SU7 crash kills three
On March 29th, a Xiaomi SU7 that had three young college-age girls in it crashed on a highway in Anhui Province, resulting in the loss of all three passengers’ lives. The accident gained wide attention on the Chinese internet. The car was driving in NOA intelligent driving mode when it detected an obstacle. The system took control and applied the brakes, but unfortunately, the car crashed into the side of the road at a speed of 97 km/h.
This tragedy soon led to doubts about Xiaomi and the intelligent driving feature. Xiaomi stock shrank over 120 billion Hong Kong dollars (Roughly 15 billion USD) in two days. At the same time, many people expressed doubts about intelligent driving and how it is marketed, including several government-sponsored media outlets such as Guancha.cn
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According to Guancha.cn’s report, the mother of the driver who died in the accident had warned her daughter several times about the dangers of “blindly trusting the intelligent driving function.” However, her daughter responded, saying the function was “safe to use.”
The media later pointed out that exaggerated wording in advertisements and games, along with the over-promotion of intelligent driving functions, has created confusion about the concept of “intelligent driving.” Many automakers, especially those focused on EVs, frequently use phrases such as “high-stage intelligent driving,” “auto avoiding obstacles,” or even “free your hands” to market their L2-level ADAS functions. Such wording may mislead consumers unfamiliar with the technology into believing the car can handle “most of the driving” for them, potentially leading to a loss of focus on the road.
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