Text/Wang Xinxi
On April 27, on the Xia County Expressway under Yuncheng, Shanxi, a black Wenjie M7 was involved in a rear-end accident, and three people in the car were unfortunately killed. The incident has aroused huge public attention and controversy, the accident video shows that the hidden door handle of the M7 is suspected to have not popped out, the door cannot be opened, several people are trying to smash the window to rescue, and the front fire is burning.
At the beginning, many consumers reported that this matter was once removed from the hot search, but the direction of the matter is not subject to human willpower, and now the overwhelming public opinion doubts have made the question of corporate responsibility and trust value.
If this matter is not handled well, it may be the biggest crisis in the history of Huawei, and even the car manufacturing business will be in danger.
Bosch was denied, and Huawei's trust value was questioned
This M7 crashed into a sprinkler truck, people initially focused on the level of intelligent driving and AEB, why did the M7, which claimed to be "far ahead" in intelligent driving and AEB, unable to avoid the sprinkler truck in front?
In this regard, Huawei's two accident statements before and after the world responded to Volkswagen's questions, the car was traveling at a speed of 115km at the time of the accident, the accident model was a non-intelligent driving version, using Bosch's AEB solution, and the airbags were deployed normally.
However, Bosch China soon issued a statement pointing out that the vehicles involved were not equipped with Bosch intelligent driving systems (including AEB), and that Bosch, as a global tier 1 supplier, supplies many cars in China, and if there is a real problem, it will also be a heavy blow to Bosch. Here, the industry is beginning to question whether the claims are credible.
Judging from this response, Huawei's car-making model and product model are conducive to Huawei's marketing and evasion of responsibility, but at the same time, it may make it impossible to protect the rights and interests of consumers. Because Huawei's car has a two-legged walk, the smart car and the Hi mode, which makes the relationship between the supplier and the OEM complicated and ambiguous, and once there is a product problem, it may not be clear whose problem it is.
Secondly, there are both non-intelligent driving versions and high-end intelligent driving versions in terms of configuration and model. It is not a smart driving version, and it is also sold in the name of "Huawei Design". Huawei, on the other hand, has made intelligent driving capability its core competency label. Many consumers buy a car, often without the concept of a non-intelligent driving version, and only believe that Huawei is far ahead in intelligent driving, which creates potential hidden dangers. In addition, judging from the response that Wenjie pushed the ABS of the car involved to Bosch, and Bosch denied it, the non-intelligent driving version has often become a shield for Wenjie to shirk responsibility.
In addition, the voices of the family members involved were forcibly lowered and the posts deleted, which also aroused heated public discussions. Although the question expressed its willingness to provide all necessary support to the family, the post of the victim's family was deleted on the Internet, and at present, on Weibo, the three Mu Mu (parties) only have one Weibo left: I just want a truth, they are all condemning me, who am I denouncing?
The family expressed anger at being attacked by fans.
According to Zhengguan News reports, the family of the party previously said in an interview with the media that after the accident, Huawei, Wenjie, Cialis and other aspects did not contact her. She also said that at first, she still believed that she could accept the treatment, but after a lot of things happened, she felt that (the car company) might suppress things.
Some netizens questioned that Huawei's move to "delete the post" was inappropriate, and that Huawei should respect the deceased and their families, and what they should do is to assist the victim's family to deal with the accident itself as soon as possible and find out the cause of the accident.
And why the door can't be opened has become the most concerned point for consumers. Because in many cases in the past, whether the car door can be opened after an accident is a door metaphysics, restricted by many factors, Lin Zhiying was able to escape because the car door was opened in time. Zhao Anji's car was also a ModelX, and after falling into the water, the door was not opened and drowned alive.
In this incident, why the car door could not be opened, the customer service later responded. "At present, most vehicles do not have the function of automatic unlocking, as long as there is consciousness, the door can be opened normally, this accident, the door can not be opened, because the person has lost consciousness. The customer service responded.
"Automatic unlocking after a collision, which is mandatory by the state, and Europe and the United States are this standard. Some netizens said.
What the netizen said is true. According to the national standard "Occupant Protection in Frontal Collisions" issued by Continental in 2015, it is stipulated that the door of the vehicle should be closed but not locked during the collision. According to the GB20071-2006 Occupant Protection for Side Collisions of Automobiles, the vehicle must be able to open a sufficient number of doors after the crash test so that the occupants can enter and exit normally, and in addition, the China New Car Evaluation Regulations (C-NCAP) clearly require that "the doors can be opened without the use of tools after a collision".
In Europe and the United States, automatic door unlocking after a collision is mandatory in automotive safety standards.
Earlier, in 2022, there was a similar incident in which Lexus was unable to open the car door after a crash. At that time, netizens generally discussed the switch design of the car involved: the door could only be opened after the switch on the main driver's side to disconnect the power supply of the electric door was pressed. In this way, when the driver loses the ability to press the switch, does it mean that the escape route of the whole car is completely cut off?
In the M7 fire accident, it is similar to the Lexus car involved in the past, there is no automatic unlocking, and the person in the car is unconscious, and the external rescue cannot open the door.
Corresponding to the M7 accident, a similar mistake was made.
There have been many cases in China where the hidden door handle causes the door to not open, and ultimately leads to the inability to save people. Judging from the accident of the M7, the lack of automatic unlocking function is the key, followed by the hidden door handle delaying external rescue.
What are the dangers of hidden door handles – even if they are automatically unlocked, but the hidden door handle does not pop out, it will also cause the rescuer to be unable to open the car door, and the person who could have been rescued is likely to die because of the hidden door handle.
Among consumers, the call for the elimination of hidden door handles has been very loud. In the inventory of anti-human design, hidden door handles are at the top of the list.
"The stupid design of concealed doorknobs must be banned by legislation. "The two stupidest designs of the car, one is the automatic start-stop and the other is the hidden door handle. Some netizens commented that so.
In recent years, under the crazy complaints of consumers about hidden door handles, not many manufacturers really pay attention to consumers' demands and expectations for correction, which is undoubtedly an important issue that all manufacturers need to reflect on.
The design of the whole door of the new energy vehicle is different from the mechanized setting of the oil truck, the door of the new energy vehicle is electronically controlled, and can only be opened by pressing the button or sensor, from the video of the M7 accident, some experts believe that the door control system may fail due to the violent impact, but from the video, the whole car seems to be completely powered off, and the lights are all off.
The M7 collided and caught fire, and the cost of 3 lives brought about a reflection on safety
Judging from the accident of the M7, the reflection left for the industry is that whether it is the lack of hidden door handles or automatic unlocking, it is all superficial, and the deep layer is the car company's neglect of the bottom line of user safety.
"Under the era of electrification, intelligent driving and price competition, many basic safety bottom lines have been ignored, misleading and even disregarding human life. Face up to the problem and solve the problem. An automotive industry expert told the media.
At present, how to ensure a collision at high speeds, in the case of damage to the electronic system, it is crucial to have another mechanical door opening solution.
If it is not technically possible to unlock automatically, it is necessary for new energy vehicle companies to equip a standard collision sensor device to detect whether the vehicle has collided and determine whether the door needs to be opened according to the degree of collision. This device has been used in their products by some car manufacturers, such as Tesla, Nissan, etc.
This time, the M7 does not have an automatic unlock function, which has caused controversy in public opinion, because under the propaganda of Yu Chengdong's "far ahead", many consumers mistakenly believe that the car of the world is the best in intelligent driving, "the best AEB in all cars", and consumers sometimes do not distinguish between the intelligent driving version and the non-intelligent driving version, this excessive trust in the brand sometimes often triggers dangerous driving, in the revelations of the family earlier, the owner of the accident is a loyal fan of Huawei, and has a high degree of recognition and appreciation for the car of the world.
It can be known that in the past, blindly advocating the leadership of technology, so as to attract consumers, and did not make too many warnings for the hidden risks, this kind of excessive publicity, undoubtedly need to bear a certain responsibility, ask the world of this accident, to all car companies in the industry to remind a wake-up, irresponsible excessive publicity and bragging marketing, often let consumers pay the price of their lives, and manufacturers will also suffer backlash.
And many of Yu Chengdong's past propaganda remarks, for the first place in business, sometimes do everything to the extreme, irresponsible and over-exaggerated, such as "heavy trucks are sandwiched front and rear, and the complete member compartment ensures living space", "AEB ranks first in all tests, and it is difficult to reverse and collide." "It's essentially a joke on the consumer's life. In this incident, Huawei, which is trusted by the whole people and is far ahead in technology and quality, did not explain the inability to open the car door at the beginning after the accident, emphasizing the safety of the battery pack and dumping the blame on Bosch. We can't see a well-known company's true respect for consumers and responsible attitude towards consumers.
The problem of excessive marketing, not only exists in the world, but also exists in a series of new energy manufacturers, after a series of backlash and lessons at the beginning of this year, but Li Xiang chose to calmly reflect internally, find problems and improve from himself, rather than choosing to delete posts on the Internet and control public opinion, which is a correct attitude that dares to face public opinion.
The accident of the M7 has reminded all car companies that on top of battery life and technology, safety standards are a red line, and this red line, once it is not adhered to, it may make a head enterprise fall from the peak, causing a major blow to the reputation and brand, which is the competition and development of new energy vehicles, and the bottom line that cannot be forgotten.
Author: Wang Xinxi, Senior Reviewer of TMT This article is not reproduced without permission