In a report from the company, a car from Chinese electric vehicle builder Nio fell from a third-floor parking lot of a building in Shanghai, leaving two people dead.
Nio Accident in Shanghai Leaves Two People Dead
The accident, which led to the demise of company staff and an employee partner, happened around 5:30 p.m. According to Nio, they are already performing immediate investigations to look into the details of what happened. They added that they are doing the investigation in cooperation with the public security department.
After an on-site analysis, the company says that it can be "preliminarily confirmed" that the problems on the vehicle did not cause the accident. The company, however, is yet to respond to the queries of the media for further details about what happened and why they deleted the first post they made about the issue.
Videos circulating around the matter are all over social media. Most of them show a shot of medical workers attempting to rescue the passengers of the said vehicle as they lay beside the car with broken glass and debris all around them.
Nio noted that a dedicated team has already been assigned to manage the needs of the families of the deceased following the incident.
Shanghai Securities News also reported that the model car being tested, the ET5, was a concept developed a year ago to rival Tesla's Model 3 unit. The model was supposed to be released for public sale by the third quarter of 2022.
This is not the first time Nio figured itself in the news for an accident, unfortunately. In a report back in 2018, NIO's ES8 SUV also got into an accident, spurring a debate over the internet about the safety of driver-assistance systems and autonomous functionality.
Nio's Previous Involvements in Car Accidents
According to a report on the 2018 incident, most of the problems brought about by autonomous driving accidents are because people who buy those types of cars are left unaware of the limitations of its technology. This prompted analysts to suggest that it is important for everyone to be educated since it can help avoid similar accidents in the future.
The 2018 incident, like what happened today, Thursday, June 23, was a fatal accident. Until now, drivers and other interested observers are claiming that some electric vehicle manufacturers in China are using "deceptive marketing strategies" to drive sales.
True enough, in a report from the police investigation following the 2018 NIO car crash, it was found that the technician from Nio may have tampered with the vehicle data to misguide information about what happened before the crash. According to the findings, the crash occurred while the driver was using the car's "Navigate on Pilot" feature and eventually crashed into another vehicle on the highway.
According to experts, there are already existing international standards for driving automation systems. In the level 2 category, in which NIO cars are mostly categorized, drivers must still be required to keep their hands on their steering wheel and pay attention to the road.
Related Article: Chinese Carmaker to Launch Flagship NIO ET7 Sedan in 2022 with 33 Sensors, Advanced Autonomous Driving
