The owner of a Xiaomi SU7 died after a head-on collision caused the vehicle to catch fire, causing the doors’ electrical system to fail and preventing him from exiting.
The accident occurred in the early hours of October 13, 2025 in Chengdu, China. The 31-year-old man was under the influence of alcohol when he collided with another vehicle before crossing the central reservation.
At that time, the electric car of Xiaomi caught fire. In a video shared on social media, people can be seen trying to break the windows to extract the driver from the burning vehicle.
According to an expertise published by the Chinese magazine Caixininvestigators concluded that the doors did not open from the outside because the fire caused the low-voltage system to shut down, disabling the function that released the handle.
The report adds that the SU7 of Xiaomi does not have mechanical locks accessible from the outside, so opening the doors depends exclusively on electric release buttons.
This is the third case of fire involving a Xiaomi SU7 registered in 2025, according to the site CarNewsChina. A similar accident in March, which left three people dead, raised concerns from authorities about electric door systems.
In response, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has developed a new set of rules for automakers. Under the updated regulations, manufacturers must ensure that doors have mechanical opening mechanisms that operate without electrical power.
For new vehicles, manufacturers have until 2027 to implement the changes, while design changes to already existing models will have to be carried out by 2029.
Xiaomi shares plunged nearly 9% after a fatal crash involving its SU7 electric car, Bloomberg reports
According to the outlet, a 31-year-old driver in China collided with another vehicle, crossed into the opposite lane, and the car caught fire. Witnesses tried to pull the man… pic.twitter.com/yPQ70FoKXN
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 13, 2025
Photo and video: Xiaomi / X @nexta_tv. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
