AITO Automobile has clearly stated that the vehicle’s braking system was functioning normally before the high-speed collision with another vehicle occurred. After data analysis, it has been confirmed that two braking actions were recorded within the five minutes before the accident and the vehicle was able to decelerate normally. However, the collision speed of the accident vehicle reached 115km/h, which exceeded the operational range of the L2 level assisted driving system (not the Huawei ADS 2.0 intelligent driving system) equipped with an Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) system, which is only effective within the speed range of 4-85km/h.
Regarding the cause of the fire, AITO Automobile explains that during the high-speed rear-end collision with the road maintenance vehicle, the hard structure of the vehicle in front severely intruded into the front engine compartment and the passenger compartment of the accident vehicle, causing serious damage and circuit breakage. The high temperature or short-circuit sparks resulting from this led to a fire in the front engine compartment. Notably, the power battery pack did not self-ignite during the accident.
About the deployment of the airbags, AITO Automobile emphasizes that according to the backend data, the driver had correctly fastened the seatbelt before the accident occurred. However, there were no seatbelt buckle signals from the front passenger seat nor the three rear seats. Despite this, the vehicle was able to deploy the airbags normally upon collision.
Lastly, AITO Automobile explains that the Wenjie new M7 Plus vehicles are equipped with a collision-activated auto-unlock feature and mechanical inner door handles. However, in this accident, because the power and signal wires were severed by the structure of the vehicle in front, the door handle controller was unable to receive the unlock signal. After the accident, rescuers had to break the windows and manually pull the inner handles to unlock the doors for rescue.
The rear-end collision accident that happened on April 26th on the Shanxi Yuncheng M7 expressway received widespread public attention and raised questions about the safety of intelligent driving functions. AITO Automobile subsequently issued a statement on April 28th regarding the accident, expressing deep condolences for those injured and the unfortunate victims and pointed out, based on the national platform data, that at the time of the accident the speed was 115km/h, airbags were properly deployed, and the power battery pack was functioning without anomalies.
April 29th, the family of the victim released the latest statement saying: ““We thank the kind-hearted people who broke the windows and opened the doors to rescue my loved one in the first place. Although life was lost due to the vehicle collision, we are deeply mourned. The deceased has now rested, and we hope that all sectors of society can respect our privacy, ignore or delete the false reports and content on the internet, and please do not disturb my family’s life any further.”
In terms of vehicle technology supply, Bosch and Fortek have been identified as the two main suppliers for the intelligent driving system (including AEB automatic emergency braking system) of the new M7 Plus model of the Qianjie series. However, Fortek has chosen to remain silent in response to media investigations and interviews, without making any comments.
In response to this incident, AITO Motors revealed that the involved new M7 Plus vehicle of Qianjie was equipped with a Level 2 assisted driving system, and clearly stated that this system is not the Huawei ADS 2.0 intelligent driving system. Further examination of the configuration information for the new M7 of Qianjie showed that the model comes standard with the AEB automatic emergency braking system throughout the series.
Subsequently, on April 30th, there were reports inquiring about the official stance of Qianjie to verify the supplier of the AEB system equipped in the related vehicles, but the official did not make any clear response or explanation regarding this matter.
