A recent fatal highway accident involving a Xiaomi SU7 electric vehicle (EV) has sparked debate on Chinese social media regarding the safety of smart driving, as the preliminary findings released by the company indicate that the vehicle was in NOA (navigation on autopilot) mode before the tragedy, though the cause of the accident remains undetermined.

On Tuesday, Chinese EV maker Xiaomi issued a statement acknowledging the accident on the Dezhou-Shangrao Expressway late on the night of March 29, which killed three people. The statement said that preliminary findings show the vehicle was in NOA-intelligent assisted driving mode.

Another statement issued by Xiaomi vehicle's official Sina Weibo account on Tuesday night also mentioned that local police arrived at the scene and are fully involved in investigating the accident, as the investigation is ongoing.

The incident has then attracted much attention from Chinese netizens about the safety of EVs, sparking discussions on topics such as the definition of "smart driving," autonomous emergency braking and safety of batteries, as well as calls for clearer marketing by auto sellers regarding smart driving features.

People argued that the potential risks associated with the technology should be clearly labeled and effectively communicated to the public. They emphasized that consumers need to exercise more caution when adopting such technology to protect themselves from unforeseen consequences.

A consumer surnamed Li, who has used the autonomous driving feature in his EV, told the Global Times that he only activates it during highway traffic jams or when he urgently needs to answer phone calls. Even then, he stays alert to road conditions, as the system cannot detect distant obstacles.

Li said that NOA is less practical for overtaking and lane changes, sometimes experiencing sudden deceleration.  

According to China's vehicle driving automation classification standard, released in March 2022, automated driving is categorized into L0 to L5, corresponding to six levels of "emergency assistance, partial driving assistance, combined driving assistance, conditional autonomous driving, highly automated driving and fully automated driving, Xinhua Net reported.

L0-L2 is driver assistance, a low-level driving automation function, which assists a driver only to perform dynamic driving tasks. Currently, the operating level of EVs in China is generally under driver assistance, which underscores that automation remains an assistive driving feature rather than fully autonomous driving, Wu Shuocheng, a veteran automobile industry analyst, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Wu noted that some manufacturers often use promotional languages that can mislead consumers to believe NOA equates to full automation, as the technology remains fundamentally as an assistive feature.

Although the cause of the accident has not been identified, the debate on smart driving safety continues to rage on social media. Wu pointed out that some consumers may place excessive trust in smart driving functions. While it is natural for consumers to have high expectations for new technologies, they should not rely on them excessively, the expert cautioned.

This is not the only incident. In 2016, a white Tesla sedan traveling on a highway's leftmost lane in North China's Hebei Province collided with a road sweeper performing maintenance. The driver was transported to two hospitals for emergency treatment but ultimately died due to severe injuries. After over a year of legal proceedings, Tesla acknowledged that the vehicle was in NOA mode at the time of the crash.

Wu added that policymakers in the automotive industry should implement stricter regulations on product specifications and safety standards. 

Manufacturers should ensure that users are thoroughly educated on the proper use of autonomous driving features and emergency protocols during the vehicle handover process, he said.