This morning (January 8, 2024), I saw a shocking piece of news on the Internet. Some bloggers questioned the release of "Xiaomi car parking" by Xiaomi Automobile Company, which clearly said: "Xiaomi SU7 valet parking video is suspected of illegal behavior, can you turn a blind eye?" In this regard, as of now, Xiaomi Automobile Company has not responded to this netizen's question.
Last Friday, that is, on January 5th, Mr. Lei Jun, the founder and actual controller of Xiaomi Auto, released a video of Xiaomi, talking about the "valet parking" function of Xiaomi Auto, aiming to promote the intelligent driving function of Xiaomi Auto. Mr. Lei Jun said in the video that in the intelligent driving function of Xiaomi cars, friends are also concerned about the valet parking project. We conducted a test at the online celebrity check-in point in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province: 7th floor open-air parking lot. After the driver gets out of the car, the Xiaomi car automatically drives up to the rooftop parking lot on the 7th floor. In the process of automatic parking of Xiaomi cars, whether it is a collection of cars or avoiding pedestrians, Xiaomi cars are very neat and neat, and in a narrow space, automatically find a parking space, and then park smoothly, which is very powerful.
The above-mentioned blogger pointed out in the article that after he saw Mr. Lei Jun's Weibo video, he found that he was very familiar with this Internet celebrity check-in point in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, but he felt that it was not appropriate for Xiaomi Auto to conduct an automatic parking test in China's 7-story open-air parking lot. Because, Xiaomi cars are conducting unmanned automatic parking tests here, which is very likely to be illegal.
The blogger said that this high-profile Internet celebrity parking building in Dongguan is 7 stories high, and there is also an Internet celebrity coffee shop on the roof. To get to the café, customers need to pass through a spiral passage that resembles a Tokyo drift. However, the parking building is not without its flaws. The width of the passage in the building is limited, and there are still many traces of vehicle scraping on the passage. To add insult to injury, it is not uncommon to encounter other vehicles on the middle floor.
However, the most interesting thing is the 7th floor of the parking building. On the 7th floor, there is a café in addition to the parking lot. If you go upstairs, you can see dozens of seats facing the corner of the aisle, and dozens of seats on the right. When the café is booming, it can even accommodate hundreds of people drinking coffee at the same time. However, in such a lively place, there was a car without a driver being tested. This raises the question of whether this test vehicle will become the scene of a crash in the event of an accident.
The blogger questioned, firstly, whether it was appropriate for Xiaomi to choose such a public parking lot with many people and cars to shoot valet parking videos? Second, whether Xiaomi cars had obtained permission for L3 autonomous driving tests? Finally, whether this parking lot was an area that was restricted to autonomous driving tests? According to current traffic regulations, drivers cannot leave the driver's seat and their hands cannot leave the steering wheel. As an automaker, ensuring safety is the most basic bottom line of its behavior. Therefore, for any test involving autonomous driving, the relevant regulations and safety standards must be strictly adhered to. At the same time, car companies should also fully evaluate and select the test site to ensure the safety of the testing process.
In conclusion, safety must be a high priority for any form of autonomous driving testing. Testing and promotion activities should only be carried out if it is safe to do so. It is hoped that relevant departments and enterprises can strengthen supervision and self-discipline to jointly maintain public safety and traffic order.
We are waiting for the response of Xiaomi Auto to this question.
(ENDS)