Xiaomi car with driving assistance crashes on expressway in China; 3 dead

Xiaomi Corporation has confirmed that one of its SU7 electric vehicles was involved in an accident on an expressway in China, Bloomberg reported, citing a statement from the company.

According to a post by the company on its Weibo account, the accident occurred on an expressway in China's Anhui province on March 29.

While Xiaomi’s statement didn’t include any details on fatalities or injuries related to the incident, local media reported that three people died in the incident, which is likely to spark scrutiny over the smart driving software deployed in cars.

According to Bloomberg, the technology giant’s stock fell as much as 6.1% in Hong Kong. The shares have slumped almost 18% since Xiaomi raised about $5.5 billion in an equity sale last week to help fund an expansion of its EV business.

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“Investors might have concerns over Xiaomi’s competitiveness and growth outlook after reports of the car accident,” Shen Meng, director at Beijing-based investment bank Chanson & Co., said. The completion of the share sale has “also weighed on sentiment.”

According to Xiaomi’s initial report, the car’s advanced driver assistance function had been engaged less than 20 minutes before the crash.

Alerts were issued because the driver wasn’t holding on to the steering wheel. Seconds after another warning was sent about obstacles in the road and the driver then retook control of the wheel, the crash happened.

As per local media report, the EV car was in flames after the impact. Only some parts of the car, like the steel chassis, survived the fiery aftermath.

The rollout of advanced driver assistance technology, which still requires drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel and stay alert to surrounding traffic, has led to concerns that some people are placing too much faith in the technology and not paying attention to the road, according to Bloomberg.

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In the United States, Elon Musk-owned Tesla is facing several probes into whether its partial-automation system marketed as Full Self-Driving is defective after multiple crashes, one of which resulted in a fatality.

The US automaker has also been involved in high-profile accidents in China, including one in 2021 when the owner of one of its cars jumped on top of a display vehicle at the Shanghai auto show and yelled that members of her family almost died because the car’s brakes failed, according to Bloomberg.