Key Takeaways
1. Xiaomi is taking precautions with its self-driving technology after a recall related to an incident involving one of its vehicles.
2. A SU7 vehicle unexpectedly drove away from a parked position, leading to an investigation by Xiaomi after the owner reported the incident.
3. The movement of the vehicle was traced back to a remote parking command sent from the owner’s iPhone 15 Pro Max, not a malfunction in the vehicle itself.
4. Miscommunication from customer service added confusion, as a representative incorrectly identified the device involved in the incident.
5. The incident has raised concerns about the need for stricter safeguards to prevent unintended activations of the driver-assist system.
Xiaomi is taking every precaution with its self-driving electric car technology following a recall linked to a tragic incident involving one of its vehicles. This action comes after a peculiar situation arose that its Advanced Driver-Assistance System (ADAS) had not been tested for, which might have contributed to the unfortunate event.
Quick Reaction to Incident
The company swiftly acted to investigate when a SU7 owner reported that their vehicle unexpectedly drove away from its parking spot in front of their home. The owner claimed there was no interaction from them to make the SU7 move, and at the time, no one was inside the car.
The footage shared by the owner showed the vehicle was parked when the incident occurred, while he and a woman were inside. When the car suddenly took off, the woman screamed, prompting the owner to run after it. The owner later told a reporter that when he contacted Xiaomi’s customer service, they suggested he might have mistakenly activated the car via his phone. However, he disagreed and released the full video evidence, emphasizing he did not touch his phone when the car started moving.
Explanation from Xiaomi
Xiaomi confirmed that the electric sedan did autonomously start moving, but after reviewing the logs, they informed the owner that the action was triggered by a command from an iPhone 15 Pro Max. “The backend data of the vehicle aligns with the operation logs of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, including response times and commands to exit, indicating no quality issues with the vehicle,” Xiaomi stated.
The owner was initially doubtful of this explanation and wanted to see the complete logs. Upon examining the logs together with Xiaomi, it became clear that the company was indeed correct. An iPhone 15 Pro Max linked to the owner’s account had sent a remote parking command. Xiaomi’s driver-assist technology has a feature similar to Tesla’s Smart Summon, which can autonomously park the vehicle or “summon” it from its spot.
Miscommunication and Future Safeguards
It was this summoning command that was inadvertently triggered by the owner’s iPhone, causing the Xiaomi SU7 to move from its parked position, which understandably startled the owner, as shown in the video below.
According to Xiaomi, an initial mistake by a customer service representative added to the confusion surrounding the incident. They stated, “During the investigation, with the user’s approval, we accessed vehicle data and operation logs from both phones that had control permissions (the female owner’s iPhone 16 Pro and the male owner’s iPhone 15 Pro Max). The backend data indicates that during the described timeframe, a parking assist command was sent from the iPhone 15 Pro Max, activating the parking assist feature, which requires the vehicle to be within Bluetooth range of the phone.” They noted that a customer service rep mistakenly identified the model of the device, which led to misunderstanding. They apologized for the error and pledged to enhance their service.
Despite the clarification, the incident has sparked discussions about the necessity for more stringent safeguards to prevent unintended activation of Xiaomi’s driver-assist system when no one is inside the vehicle.
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