On April 26, a traffic accident occurred in a Wenjie M7 vehicle in Yuncheng, Shanxi, and three drivers and passengers were killed.
The online video shows that a Wenjie M7 vehicle rear-ended a road maintenance vehicle, and the front of the Wenjie M7 caught fire, and then the vehicle was enveloped in flames.
On April 28, the company said in a statement that the vehicle was traveling at a speed of 115km/h at the time of the accident, the airbags were deployed normally, and the characteristics of the power battery pack were normal. At present, the cause of the accident is pending further investigation by the relevant parties.
AITO's official response
On May 6, AITO's official Weibo issued the "Explanation on the Technical Issues Related to the New M7 Plus in the Traffic Accident of Houping Expressway in Shanxi Province", officially responding to the four major questions about the accident from the outside world.
According to the note: On April 26, 2024, a traffic accident occurred on the Houping Expressway section of Shanxi Province, and a road maintenance vehicle of the new M7 Plus was rear-ended and collided with in the inner fast lane. We are deeply saddened by this traffic accident.
After the accident, we actively cooperate with the traffic police department to carry out the accident investigation, provide all necessary data to restore the cause of the accident, and the specific investigation results are subject to the notification of the traffic police department.
The incident has recently received widespread attention on the Internet, and the technical problems related to the new M7 Plus vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the "accident vehicle") in the accident that Wenjie users are concerned about are explained:
Question 1: Why did the Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) function not successfully avoid a collision?
The braking system of the accident vehicle was normal before the collision, and according to the background data analysis, there were 2 braking actions within 5 minutes before the accident, and the vehicle was able to slow down normally.
The new M7 Plus is equipped with a Level 2 driver assistance system (non-Huawei ADS 2.0 intelligent driving system), and its automatic emergency braking (AEB) operating range is 4~85km/h. The vehicle was traveling at a speed of 115 km/h at the time of the collision, which exceeded the operating range of automatic emergency braking (AEB).
Question 2: What is the cause of the vehicle fire?
When the accident vehicle and the road maintenance vehicle in front of 115km/h high-speed rear-end collision, the rear of the vehicle in front of the protruding beam-like hard structure instantly and seriously invaded the front cabin and the passenger compartment on the upper left side of the accident vehicle, resulting in serious damage to the front cabin and the passenger compartment, the wiring harness was cut off instantly, the front nacelle was ignited by high-temperature parts or wire harness short-circuit sparks, the left side of the front nacelle caught fire first, and then the fire spread to the whole vehicle, and the power battery pack did not spontaneously combust.
Question 3: Is the airbag open normally?
According to the background data analysis, there was a seat belt buckle signal in the main driver's seat before the collision, and there was no seat belt buckle signal in the passenger seat and the three rear seats, and the airbag status monitoring was normal. At the time of the collision, the vehicle's airbags are deployed normally.
Question 4: Can the car door be opened after a collision?
The new M7 Plus has a collision automatic unlocking function, and is equipped with a mechanical door handle, which can be unlocked and opened by pulling the mechanical door handle in special emergencies. When the accident vehicle and the road maintenance vehicle in front of the 115km/h high-speed rear-end collision, the rear of the vehicle in front of the protruding beam-like hard structure instantly and seriously invaded the front cabin and the passenger compartment on the upper left side of the accident vehicle, resulting in the front cabin and the crew compartment in the power cord and signal line were cut off instantly, the door handle controller could not receive the pop-up signal, and the rescuer broke the window and pulled the handle in the mechanical door to open the door to carry out rescue.