Li Auto Responds to Li ONE Vehicle Fire: Suspected Iron Shard Punctured High Pressure Fuel Pipe
A burning Li ONE vehicle was discovered at around 4 p.m. on Aug. 6 on the Sihui and Lianzhou expressways in Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province. Two people in the car were hospitalized for further observation, and the others had no injuries. Staff from Li Auto, the EV maker who designs and produces Li ONE, arrived at the scene immediately to confirm the vehicle’s situation.
Eight hours after the accident, Li Auto stated on its Weibo account that according to cloud monitoring data, there were no abnormalities in the battery or range extender after the accident.
The cause was preliminarily judged to be a suspected piece of iron about 20 cm in length that penetrated the high-pressure fuel pipe, causing fuel splash which was ignited by the high temperature of the exhaust pipe. The specific cause of the accident and detailed analysis results are pending a detailed investigation and analysis of the accident site, Li Auto stated.
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On May 8 this year, a video of a Li ONE vehicle’s front cabin catching fire in Changsha was widely circulated online, stirring public concerns of the safety of Li ONE. After 13 days, Li Auto released the official investigation results of the incident: the fire was caused by a piece of paint protection pad attached to the front surface of the exhaust pipe in the lower right part of the front engine. The foreign matter was left by staff at the Wuhan Delivery Center on April 28 during the pre-delivery preparation of the vehicle. On April 30, the vehicle was delivered to its current owner in Changsha.
Li Auto responded that the accident was caused by management mistakes.
“The lack of detailed control over process management amidst the drastic increase in delivery volume makes us feel very ashamed and there is no one to blame but ourselves,” Li Auto said.
