On August 10th, a video was uploaded by a netizen showing an accident involving an Xpeng P7 on the elevated Airport Road in Ningbo, Zhejiang. In the video, the Xpeng P7 rear-ended a small car that had stopped due to a malfunction. The owner of the small car was getting out of the vehicle and walking towards the rear when the Xpeng P7. coming from behind, showed no signs of slowing down and directly collided with both the person and the vehicle. Unfortunately, not only were both cars damaged, but the driver of the small car also succumbed to severe injuries and passed away.
As the accident video quickly spread online, the incident rapidly climbed to the top of Weibo's trending topics. Shortly afterward, a suspected chat record from the Xpeng P7 driver involved in the accident began circulating. The chat included phrases like "distracted," "assisted driving," "realized it was too late," and "no warning," implying that the vehicle was in lane-centering assistance mode at the time of the accident. This brought immediate public attention to the issue of assisted driving, as there have been numerous incidents in recent years where new energy vehicles were allegedly involved in accidents due to assisted driving systems.
In response, Xpeng Motors quickly issued a statement expressing sorrow and regret over the victim's death. The company pledged full cooperation with the relevant authorities in the investigation and promised to closely follow up on subsequent developments while assisting the customer in handling related matters.
An officer from the traffic police department handling the case stated that a preliminary investigation is currently underway. Whether the accident was caused by the rumored LCC (Lane Centering Control) function has not yet been confirmed.
The so-called LCC function is a basic feature of Xpeng's XPILOT intelligent assisted driving system. When activated, the system can assist the driver in steering by detecting lane markings with a camera installed on the windshield, keeping the vehicle centered in its lane at a set speed. The forward-facing millimeter-wave radar is responsible for detecting the distance to vehicles and obstacles ahead and controlling the speed accordingly. However, in almost all descriptions of these features, Xpeng Motors has noted that drivers must remain attentive to system alerts and be prepared to take control at any time.
The Xpeng P7 is currently the best-selling model from Xpeng Motors. Data shows that in July this year, 6.397 units of the Xpeng P7 were sold, with cumulative sales reaching 41.807 units this year. The fact that this accident involved the P7 has understandably stirred public sentiment. Coincidentally, August 10th was also the day when Xpeng G9 reservations opened, and Xpeng officially released the interior images of the G9. The G9 is expected to be launched in September, with an official rollout anticipated in the fourth quarter. It remains to be seen whether the P7 incident will impact orders for the G9.
In conclusion, the cause of the accident has not yet been determined. Whether it was mainly due to assisted driving or driver error is still unclear. Assisted driving is merely a driver assistance feature. Regardless of how impressively car manufacturers promote these systems, drivers must stay focused and be ready to take over at any moment. After all, fully autonomous driving is not yet legal in China. Over-reliance on assisted driving not only jeopardizes one's own safety but also endangers others.
