Recently, a car owner in mainland China posted online claiming that after driving over a pothole-ridden road section in a Xiaomi SU7, the car experienced a broken axle, sparking attention to the issue.
On February 9, Xiaomi Motors addressed the issue through its official Weibo account, declaring the mentioned incident as a “rumor” and denying the existence of any “broken axle” situation.
According to Xiaomi Motors, the incident of the “broken axle” occurred at 10:56 on January 30, 2025. The incident took place on a rural road in Xuyi, Huai’an, with the driver speeding at approximately 70km/h on the road despite a speed limit sign indicating 20km/h. When the vehicle reached a damaged and pothole-filled road section, due to the improper driving behavior, the car’s body collided with the edge of a pothole, causing damage to the right rear tire, wheel hub, suspension, and other parts.
The “over pothole broken axle” incident involving Xiaomi Motors has attracted attention, but the Chinese internet has started to regulate related discussions. Some netizens posted that “the account of the Xiaomi SU7 owner who experienced a broken axle when crossing a slope was banned, and the account is now missing several posts.” They also mentioned, “Videos are banned from being posted on Douyin.” Some internet users indicated that the Xiaomi owner whose axle broke was live streaming to protect their rights when suddenly their account was banned.
Our reporters noticed that the aforementioned car owner, known as “Bean Treasure,” displayed on their Douyin profile: “This user has been banned from posting content,” with Douyin stating that the user violated Douyin’s regulations and will be unbanned on February 13, 2025.
Regarding the “over pothole broken axle” incident, Weibo user “Summer of Buttocks” commented, “No matter how big the pothole is, it is a pit. The transmission of force should go through the tire first, then the wheel hub, and then the control arm. The issue is that the tire burst, but the damage and deformation of the wheel hub are not significant, and then the control arm broke, which indeed does not quite match the reasoning.”
He suggested, “If Xiaomi is confident, they should send a car to this road, at the same speed, over the pothole, to see if it will break, try it several times. This is mainly to justify to all Xiaomi Motors fans.”