BEIJING, Feb 27 (Reuters) – Chinese electric vehicle maker Xiaomi said on Friday that it will set up a committee of advisers to assess the safety of its cars, as it moves to combat rising criticism over a recent spate of accidents.
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, Hou Jinglei, head of Xiaomi’s EV safety department, said during a livestream at the company’s EV factory in Beijing.
The EV maker has a safety team of more than 3,500 people, including an internal investigation centre to review accidents.
In a fatal crash in October involving a Xiaomi SU7 sedan, the car’s doors became inoperable due to a power outage after a collision with another vehicle and the driver was burned to death, Chinese media Caixin reported this week, citing a forensic report.
Chinese news provider Yicai, which also reported the forensic findings, ran a commentary on Friday urging Xiaomi to recall all first-generation SU7s to “completely eliminate door handle hazards.”
Xiaomi did not respond to a request for comment on the reports.
An earlier crash involving an SU7 travelling in driving assistance mode and in which three people were killed remains under investigation.
Official accounts of the two accidents have yet to be released.
Xiaomi issued a software update for more than 115,000 SU7s over assisted driving issues in September.
The company has discontinued production of the first-generation SU7 and is set to launch in April an upgraded version of its best-selling sedan with a backup power supply for the doors.
Deliveries of the SU7, a rival to Tesla’s Model 3, had exceeded 381,000 vehicles as of February.
Widely reported accidents have led to tighter regulations on marketing and safety standards for assisted driving. Regulators have also decided to phase out hidden car door handles from 2027 and are considering EV acceleration limits.
(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan and Ju-min Park; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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