China drastically tightens screws on autonomous driving

China, a long time forerunner in autonomous driving features tested on public roads, is tightening the screws on that technology after an accident that shocked the nation. A dramatic accident in which three young female students were killed in a Xiaomi SU7 sedan that caught fire in March, apparently, was the last straw.

Carmakers are no longer allowed to use terms like ‘smart driving’ and ‘autonomous driving’ in advertising Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS); they must use the official SAE Levels 2, 3, 4, and 5 that precisely describe what the car is capable of doing and when the driver must intervene or not.

No remote control

Remote parking or one-touch summoning is now forbidden, as a driver has to be in the car to control it. Over-the-air (OTA) software updates of autonomous driving features or beta-testing must be approved under strict surveillance of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

According to Reuters press agency, the mandate on vehicle advertising and restrictions on public testing was delivered by the MIIT in its meeting with  60 representatives from automakers on Wednesday.

Limiting fire risks

On Monday, the MITT already issued a set of technical standards to limit the risk of fire and explosions in the batteries in electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids as a direct response to the incident on March 29th.

The news of the fatal accident involving three students who got trapped in a burning Xiaomi SU7 after it hit a concrete barrier post was widely covered in Chinese media and shocked the nation.

The students drove Xiaomi’s flagship electric vehicle, a standard SU7 with Navigate on Autopilot (NOA). That’s in principle a system that offers Level 2 autonomous driving.

This means the car can control steering, acceleration, and braking under certain conditions, but the driver must remain engaged and ready to take over at any time.

Xiaomi also has this system’s Advanced Version (Xiaomi HAD), equipped with two Nvidia Drive Orin X SoCs and a LiDAR, mmWave radars, and multiple cameras. This version extends NOA capabilities to urban environments, allowing for more complex navigation tasks.

However, in this case, it was a standard version with the basic capabilities used for highway driving, as Xiaomi stated when releasing the official data recovered from the crashed vehicle.

The driver took over too late

The incident occurred on March 29th, 2025, at 10:44 p.m. on the Dezhou-Shangrao Highway in Anhui Province, China. The girls drove at 116 km/hour with NOA activated when approaching a construction zone.

The car hit a concrete barrier post at an estimated 97 km/hour speed and caught fire, with the girls trapped inside. The vehicle has no visual mechanical door handles, but an electrical release button to open the doors.

There is an emergency lever in all four door storage compartments, but the students didn’t know or couldn’t use it in time. All three died in the accident.

Xiaomi’s detailed timeline of the incident reveals several notable events leading up to the crash, according to CarNewsChina:

• 10:27:17 PM: NOA activated, vehicle speed at 116 km/hour
• 10:28:17 PM: Mild distraction warning issued
• 10:36:48 PM: NOA issued hands-off warning: “Please hold the steering wheel.”
• 10:44:24 PM: NOA issued risk warning: “Please note obstacle ahead,” with deceleration request
• 10:44:25 PM: Driver took over from NOA, entering manual driving mode, steering wheel turned 22.0625 degrees left, brake pedal pressed 31%
• 10:44:26 PM: Steering wheel turned 1.0625 degrees right, brake pedal pressed 38%
• Between 10:44:26 and 28, the Vehicle collided with the concrete barrier
• 10:44:28 PM: Vehicle eCall triggered
• 10:44:39 PM: eCall connected, accident confirmed, police and emergency services contacted
• 10:45:06 PM: Contact established with vehicle owner, confirming non-owner was driving
• 10:47:15 PM: Emergency medical services successfully dispatched
• Approximately 11:00 PM: Emergency services arrived at the scene.

But that, unfortunately, was too late.