A Xiaomi electric car was involved in an accident in which three female university students were killed on Saturday, triggering widespread discussions among netizens.
On Saturday evening, a Xiaomi SU7, the first and a flagship electric car of the company, collided with a highway cement barrier and caught fire on a highway in central Anhui province, killing all the three passengers.
On Tuesday noon, Xiaomi issued a statement on its official account, providing an excerpt of the accident details.
It said that at 10:27 pm Saturday, the SU7 car was traveling at a speed of 116 km/h in Navigate on Autopilot mode, which is an intelligent driving assistance mode.
Then, the car ran across a construction repairs spot where the road was closed off with barriers, diverting traffic to the opposite lane. At 22:44 pm, the vehicle detected the obstacles, issued a warning, and began to decelerate.
One second later, the driver took manual control of the vehicle and continued decelerating and steering, but the car eventually collided with the cement barrier at about 97 km/h.
"Following the collision, we immediately contacted the vehicle owner and learned the owner was not driving the car. Emergency rescue was called for the passengers in the vehicle and the police and emergency service were also called," the company said.
However, the family of one of the victims said that the time between the driver taking control of the vehicle and the collision is two seconds, and it is unrealistic to react to the situation within such a short period of time.
The mother of the driver said in a statement later the same day that Xiaomi cannot explain why the car door could not be opened after the collision and why the vehicle caught fire.
"Since the incident occurred, Xiaomi has never contacted me, nor have they called to offer condolences. I heard that they only took the car to Beijing for appraisal," she said.
The victim's mother also said that the rumors of her daughter having only three months of driving experience are false, and the car was registered under her daughter's boyfriend's name, but she was the one driving.
On Tuesday evening, Xiaomi issued another statement, in which it said "As of now, we have not had access to the vehicle involved in the accident. We can only confirm that the vehicle did not catch fire spontaneously as some rumors suggest. It is speculated that the entire vehicle system was severely damaged due to the violent impact with the cement barrier."
"Since we are currently unable to conduct further in-depth analysis, we cannot analyze whether the car door could be opened at the time of the accident," it added.
Lei Jun, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi Group, responded on Tuesday evening, saying that Xiaomi will not evade responsibility regardless of the circumstances.
He expressed his deep sorrow over the incident. "As the investigation into the accident is still ongoing, we have not had access to the accident vehicle, and there are still many questions that cannot be answered at this time. However, I feel that I should not wait any longer. I must step forward on behalf of Xiaomi and promise that Xiaomi will not evade responsibility, we will continue to cooperate with the police investigation, follow up on the progress of the case, and make every effort to address the concerns of the victims' families and the public," Lei said.
Xiaomi's financial report shows that the Xiaomi SU7 delivered a total of 136,854 units throughout last year since its March market launch, with monthly deliveries exceeding 20,000 units for five consecutive months.
Xiaomi Group's stock price plunged on Tuesday afternoon, closing at 46.5 Hong Kong dollars, down 5.49 percent.
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