Xiaomi announced on Friday that it is building a safety advisory committee following fatal crashes linked to its assisted driving software and malfunctions of electronic door handles during accidents.
The tech giant hosted a livestream on Friday, where the founder and CEO Lei Jun was present.
Management emphasized that assisted driving features cannot replace human drivers and do not constitute autonomous driving.
“We hope vehicle owners remain focused while in the driver’s seat and take control of the vehicle promptly when necessary,” Jun stated.
Li Xiaoshuang, VP of Xiaomi‘s auto unit and General Manager of the Marketing Department, added, “assisted driving is a safety backup measure. It absolutely does not mean you can drive carelessly.”
He further clarified, “We want to reiterate that assisted driving is not autonomous driving. At this stage, it is still only an assistance function. Drivers must remain attentive at all times.”
According to the Chief Executive Officer, Xiaomi has a five-layer safety system which begins with the principle of safety assistance first.
The company’s assisted driving system includes AES (Automatic Emergency Steering) assistance, which Lei Jun recommended that users turn on.
While assisted driving is designed to enhance safety, ultimate responsibility remains with the human driver.
Safety Committee
The EV maker has a safety team of more than 3,500 people, including an internal investigation centre to review accidents.
Xiaomi currently has three dedicated safety teams, including a full-domain Safety Department, a user-focused Safety Prevention Team, and an independent Accident Investigation Center.
Jing Lei, VP and General Manager of the Safety Department, explained that the company is setting up a committee of advisers to assess the safety of its vehicles.
The committee holds “one-vote veto power” across all stages of development — including design, product, engineering, and manufacturing.
The company also plans to hold regular meetings with car owners, media and experts to hear their suggestions regarding the safety of its vehicles, with the first session set for the first half of this year.
Fatal Crashes
Last October, several images and videos circulated on Chinese social media showing that a Xiaomi SU7 Ultra caught fire after a crash in Chengdu.
A report by the media outlet Caixin earlier this week confirmed that the vehicle’s electronic doors failed to open after the crash, trapping the driver inside.
The investigation also revealed that the driver was suspected of drunk driving and was travelling at 167 km/h (104 mph) at the time of the crash.
While the police report immediately assigned full responsibility for the crash to the driver, many have called for further investigation, noting that the driver’s death resulted from the fire rather than the collision itself.
The impact of the crash damaged the low-voltage system that powers the door handles, rendering them inoperable.
They did not include an exterior mechanical emergency release, a feature that is increasingly being adopted as scrutiny of electronic door handles grows.
On Friday, Chinese media outlet Yicai published an opinion article saying Xiaomi should recall its 370,000 first-generation SU7 due to safety risks.
ADAS Updates and Upcoming SU7
Xiaomi issued a software update for more than 115,000 SU7s to address assisted driving issues in September.
Two months later, the company began rolling out its Highway Assisted Driving (HAD) Enhanced Version, introducing smoother acceleration and braking and lane change decisions.
It also included AES (Automatic Emergency Steering) assistance, which can perform emergency steering to avoid collisions when space and lane conditions allow, especially if AEB alone cannot effectively prevent or reduce collision risk.
Xiaomi has sold 370,000 SU7 vehicles since its electric vehicle division launched in early 2024.
The SU7 became the first real competitor to Tesla‘s Model 3 in China, surpassing the sedan’s sales in less than a year on the market.
The numbers were provided by Lei Jun earlier this month, as he announced that the company stopped production of the first generation model.
The EV maker is scheduled to launch the second-gen SU7 in April. Pre-sale orders opened in early January.
Door Handle Concerns
Nearly a year ago, a fatal crash involving a Xiaomi vehicle raised concerns over the safety of smart driving features.
A SU7 driving in intelligent mode crashed and burned with three people trapped inside the vehicle. By then, the victims’ families questioned the brand as to why the doors didn’t open post-collision.
Following several incidents that raised safety concerns among authorities and the public, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has mandated that all vehicles sold from next year must feature mechanical releases for both the interior and exterior door handles.
The new regulation will take effect on 1 January 2027.
Electronic car door handles became popular in electric vehicles after Tesla introduced them with its flagship Model S a decade ago.
In the United States, several wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against the company on similar issues in recent months.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is currently investigating the Tesla‘s models regarding their door handles.
Last year, Bloomberg also reported that US EV maker Rivian was redesigning its vehicle doors following employee concerns about potential safety issues.
However, as the first reviews of the upcoming R2 became available, users pointed out that the manual emergency release is very complex, especially in the rear doors.
According to the company, the system is only intended to be used by service teams.
