CFP
AsianFin -- Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun's past claim that the SU7 EV battery meets the world's strictest thermal runaway standards have become ironic since a fatal SU7 accident killed three female university students last Friday.
"Even if the battery pack is damaged, it will never catch fire," Lei said during a product launch briefing..Netizens are questioning whether Xiaomi's marketing crossed the line into false advertising.
"When it comes to battery safety, Xiaomi has adopted the industry's most stringent battery safety standards. Just how rigorous are these standards? We ensure that even when the battery is fully charged at 55°C with the liquid cooling system being inactive, no flames or thermal runaway will occur, which meets the world's highest thermal stability requirements," Lei said..
"Even if the battery pack gets damaged by accidental underbody scraping or collisions, our solution provides unprecedented protection: 3 layers of top support, 3 layers of side reinforcement, and 8 layers of bottom protection - totaling 14 layers of robust shielding. This multi-tiered defense allows the battery to pass the most demanding IP6K9K ingress protection tests even under extreme combined stress conditions," he explained.
"We've also introduced an innovative cell inversion technology. Why invert the battery cells? Because during thermal runaway, each cell's pressure relief valve - normally positioned at the top - will vent downward in our design. This means if any single cell fails, the released energy discharges downward rather than upward, significantly enhancing cabin safety. This orientation fundamentally redirects thermal hazards away from occupants while maintaining structural integrity," he added.
As of press time, the investigation into SU7 crash incident in Anhui Province is still going on. Lei released a statement on Tuesday night, saying that Xiaomi had no access to the burned car and thus could not provide any details about the cause of the accident to the public.
Xiaomi EV confirmed that their SU7 model involved in a recent high-speed incident was traveling at 116 km/h with NOA (Navigate on Autopilot) engaged when it detected an obstacle, issued warnings, and began decelerating—with the driver having only a critical two-second reaction window before manually taking control and colliding with a guardrail.
