Recently, a report from the European new car safety evaluation agency pointed out that the assisted driving system used in BYD’s ATTO3 electric vehicle has been rated as “not recommended,” marking the worst rating ever, indicating a lack of key safety technology. Additionally, in recent times, Xpeng and Xiaomi’s electric cars have also been involved in accidents due to malfunctions in their assisted driving systems. Assisted driving is a form of partial automated driving.
Euro NCAP recently reviewed the assisted driving systems of 6 new cars, including BMW i5, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Volkswagen ID.7, Volvo EC40, and BYD ATTO3. As a result, ATTO3 was given a “not recommended” rating, becoming the lowest-rated vehicle in Euro NCAP’s history.
Euro NCAP pointed out that the Adaptive Cruise Control system of ATTO3 performed poorly, as the system failed to brake effectively when encountering obstacles and automatically disabled steering support after a long period of inactivity, while still maintaining the original speed control state, making it difficult for drivers to react promptly.
Moreover, in terms of driver monitoring function, BYD’s ATTO3 electric vehicle scored zero points, with the maximum score being 25 points.
The Euro NCAP website provides quantitative scoring criteria for test results:
– 5-star safety: Excellent overall performance in collision protection and equipped with the most advanced crash prevention technology.
– 4-star safety: Good overall performance in collision protection and prevention, but did not meet the highest standards in all key assessment areas.
– 3-star safety: Vehicles that provide an average level of safety performance, offering moderate safety standards.
– 2-star safety: Nominal collision protection, but performance below average in one or more key assessment areas.
– 1-star safety: Marginal collision protection beyond legal requirements and minimal collision avoidance technology.
– 0-star safety: Meets type approval standards and can be legally sold but lacks critical modern safety technology.
Even as BYD, the top-ranked domestic electric vehicle brand, faces such issues, it raises concerns about the assisted driving systems of other car manufacturers. Recently, incidents like malfunctioning assisted driving systems in Xpeng electric cars and Xiaomi electric cars have led to serious accidents.
According to reports from various media outlets including “Liaoshen Evening News” and “Dahe Daily,” on October 19th, a Hangzhou resident, Mr. Wang, experienced a major issue while driving his new Xiaomi SU7 on the highway. He activated the vehicle’s assisted driving feature and then the car crashed into a guardrail directly, causing the left front wheel to detach, airbags to deploy, and significant damage to the vehicle, nearly rendering it unusable.
Driver Mr. Wang mentioned, “After passing through the toll station, I turned on the vehicle’s assisted driving. When the vehicle reached the corner of the ramp, there was no sign of turning or braking, and it directly collided with the guardrail. Upon realizing the situation, I immediately applied the brakes, but it was too late.”
Similar incidents have occurred before, such as an accident in Ningbo in August.
On August 10th, on a viaduct in Ningbo, a Xpeng P7 traveling at 80 km/h collided with a stationary vehicle, resulting in one fatality. At the time of the incident, the vehicle was in the LCC (Lane Centering Control) function mode but failed to identify the stationary vehicle ahead or provide any warning. Coupled with the driver being distracted, the accident occurred.