Brake and Startup Failures Reported in Xiaomi SU7

Xiaomi‘s first car model, the SU7, is making full efforts to increase production capacity to accelerate recent deliveries, but some owners have encountered various problems shortly after picking up their cars, including suspected sudden brake failure.

Recently, a Xiaomi SU7 owner in Hunan, China, seemed to have a sudden brake failure and loss of damping during parking. The car sounded an alarm, and the screen subsequently displayed four abnormal messages such as “brake system failure”. At the time of the incident, the Xiaomi SU7 car was less than a month old.

On May 13, in response to the brake failure incident, Wang Hua, the general manager of Xiaomi Group’s PR department, said in a post that after verification, it was a misidentification by the software, and this low-probability event has been fixed.

Due to the slow reverse speed, the car automatically stopped. The owner called the car’s emergency system, but no one answered for a long time. An hour and a half later, local road rescue moved the accident vehicle to the Changsha Delivery Center. The car quickly returned to normal after being inspected. The owner said that the after-sales staff told him that the car had self-checked and repaired, but they could not provide a detailed explanation to dispel the car usage concerns.

Wang Hua responded that the brake system of the Xiaomi SU7 uses a dual backup design. At the time of the accident, the main controller system misidentified and triggered the backup strategy, and the auxiliary brake controller directly responded to the demand to provide brake deceleration. During the process, the auxiliary controller drew brake fluid from the main controller to increase the braking pressure on the wheels. The pressure in the master cylinder dropped rapidly, resulting in insufficient foot feel when the driver stepped on the pedal.

Wang Hua said that it was precisely because the braking system switched between primary and secondary that the pressure value in the cylinder of the original main brake was 0, but it did not mean that all braking power was lost. At this time, the auxiliary controller intervened in braking, and there was no complete failure of the braking system and loss of control of the vehicle.

Regarding the issue of unanswered calls, Wang Hua said that it was during a peak period of incoming calls, and he apologized for not being able to connect in time. Subsequently, the user’s exclusive service group responded to the owner’s needs and arranged for road rescue support. The company started relevant recruitment urgently in April, and it is expected that the online customer service connection rate will increase significantly by the end of May.

The aforementioned vehicle has now returned to normal, and Wang Hua said that Xiaomi cars can support users’ demands for returning or exchanging cars and will pay for the costs incurred due to returning or exchanging cars. If a replacement car is needed, it will be produced in priority according to the original order number, and compensation will be given during the waiting period.

This is not the first time that the Xiaomi SU7 has attracted attention due to accidents occurring shortly after delivery. Last week, an owner said that the new car picked up in Xiamen, Fujian, broke down on its first drive and stopped on the road and could not start. The odometer was only 39 kilometers, and the vehicle could not find the problem.

After the accident, the owner hoped to replace the car with a new one, but the staff at the delivery center once said that they could not repair or replace it. The main reason is that the cars currently in production and the existing cars already have designated owners. The owner said that the latest negotiation result between the two parties is that Xiaomi agreed to replace the new car, but he was worried that he might have to wait until next year for re-production. During the waiting period for the replacement car, a daily compensation of 150 yuan can be obtained.

The latest data released by the official shows that since the first delivery of the Xiaomi SU7 on April 3, 7,058 vehicles have been delivered in that month. As of the end of April, the Xiaomi SU7 had locked in orders for 88,100 vehicles. Interface News learned in mid-April that Xiaomi‘s car factory produces about 8,000 vehicles per month. Lei Jun said earlier this month that he is fully expanding production capacity to ensure the delivery of 100,000 vehicles this year.

The market is highly concerned about the product quality after the start of delivery of the SU7. Earlier, a user posted on a social platform that the front bumper of the SU7 dropped paint within two days of picking up the car, which sparked discussion. Xiaomi later said that the content was untrue. The first owner used a full-car color-changing film, and the subsequent user caused the paint on the inside of the bumper to peel off after tearing off the film, which was not a factory issue.

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