In various regions of the mainland, there have been reports of power battery failures in new energy-operated vehicles. Many complaints have emerged regarding the Guangzhou Automobile AION S series vehicles equipped with CATL’s 177Ah lithium iron phosphate battery cells, including issues such as battery swelling, leakage, insulation faults, sudden drops in driving range, and unexpected power cutoffs during operation.
According to a report by the “Daily Economic News” on July 18, these malfunctions mainly occur in operational vehicles that have traveled between 150,000 to 300,000 kilometers, with many vehicles nearing or exceeding their original warranty mileage.
The report cited data from the automotive quality evaluation platform “Car Quality Net,” stating that from July 1 to July 18 alone, there were 182 complaints regarding the power batteries of the cars in question, with most mentioning CATL’s innovative batteries.
One car owner mentioned that the remaining driving range displayed on the vehicle suddenly dropped from 168 kilometers to 33 kilometers. Another owner reported that their vehicle experienced a sudden power cutoff while driving, and upon inspection, it was found that the power battery was severely swollen, rendering it unusable.
A third-party inspection report mentioned in the report indicated that after ruling out external factors such as collisions or water damage, the faults pointed to internal issues within the batteries.
An electric battery maintenance engineer in Tianjin stated that he had dealt with over 30 cases of the same battery issues, spread across Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei. He suspected that the faults might be related to inadequate battery design and testing verification periods.
A car owner from Suzhou mentioned that their vehicle experienced system malfunctions after approximately 230,000 kilometers of driving. The authorized dealer confirmed the battery quality issue but refused to handle it for free, citing that the vehicle had exceeded the 150,000-kilometer warranty period and requested around 80,000 yuan for battery replacement.
A ride-hailing driver from Chengdu reported that their vehicle developed problems like battery swelling and pressure relief valve bursting after around 310,000 kilometers of driving, but the after-sales service refused warranty coverage, alleging that the vehicle hadn’t been maintained at designated service centers as required.
Another car owner stated that their vehicle’s power battery had malfunctioned three times within a few months, yet the after-sales service insisted on the car surpassing the warranty mileage as a reason to require the owner to contact extended warranty services on their own.
As of the evening of July 18, both Guangzhou Automobile AION and CATL had not disclosed the specific production batches, installation quantities, or total number of faulty vehicles related to the batteries in question, and no recall announcements had been made.
Guangzhou Automobile AION stated on that day that for certain AION S vehicles equipped with CATL’s 177Ah battery cells used for operational purposes experiencing battery malfunctions, they would extend the battery warranty period from 8 years or 150,000 kilometers to 8 years or 300,000 kilometers. The company mentioned that they would provide testing for abnormal vehicles and carry out maintenance or battery pack replacements based on the results.
CATL later responded by stating that some relevant vehicles had experienced battery system failures under specific conditions, and owners could visit service centers for testing and repairs.
However, both companies did not clarify whether the malfunctions were concentrated in specific production batches, nor did they disclose the scale of affected vehicles or the exact reasons for the failures.
Zhang Rui, a partner at the Shanghai Qifang Law Firm, mentioned that if regulatory authorities determine the existence of batch or systematic defects in the products, even if the vehicles have exceeded the warranty mileage, the car manufacturers may still be required to provide free repairs, replacements, or recalls. Car companies cannot refuse to take post-sales responsibility by attributing the battery issues to the supplier.