On November 1st， 2023， a significant incident occurred in Shanghai where a Li Auto MEGA vehicle spontaneously combusted on the street on October 23rd. Following this alarming event， Li Auto issued a response yesterday.
Li Auto has announced a proactive recall initiative， stating their commitment to ensuring that no future models will experience spontaneous combustion. This decision highlights a serious concern for vehicle safety and aims to restore public confidence in their products.
That same evening， “Brother Tang” (Lao Tang Ge Tango)， the head of Li Auto’s product line， provided further details regarding the recall and the circumstances surrounding the incident.
He emphasized that Li Auto had previously delivered over 1.4 million vehicles to customers without a single incident of battery thermal runaway occurring due to internal or external factors. This track record spoke to the company’s confidence in their battery suppliers’ quality control and their proprietary “Lianshan” cloud-based AI quality early warning system. This system is designed to detect potential issues before they escalate to thermal runaway， thus preventing severe malfunctions.
Regarding the specific incident， “Brother Tang” candidly admitted that the cause was a lapse in diligence. He explained that the cloud system had actually flagged a battery insulation fault over four hours before the accident. The customer service department had contacted the vehicle controller and the driver， and the vehicle had even entered a distress state due to a low auxiliary battery charge， requiring towing services. However， Li Auto did not implement more decisive emergency measures.
He expressed regret， noting that while there might be various explanations or difficulties， he personally believes the situation was exacerbated by a collective complacency. Having previously delivered over 1.4 million vehicles without internal faults causing thermal runaway， there was perhaps a sense of overconfidence， leading some team members to become less vigilant and more complacent. This allowed a potentially avoidable fault， by permitting the vehicle to continue operating with a significant insulation defect， to escalate into a major accident.
He added with a tone of deep remorse， “Had we known there was even a slight possibility of thermal runaway risk， we would have certainly opted for a recall much earlier， rather than waiting until today…” This statement underscores the gravity of the situation and the lessons learned from this unfortunate event， pointing towards areas for improvement in their risk assessment and response protocols.
