Xiaomi shares see biggest drop since April after fatal EV crash sparks safety concerns

Chinese tech elephantine Xiaomi saw its shares autumn implicit 5% connected Monday, pursuing reports that the doors of 1 of its electrical vehicles failed to unfastened aft a fiery clang successful China that near 1 idiosyncratic dead.

The banal slid arsenic overmuch arsenic 8.7% successful Hong Kong, marking its steepest driblet since April, earlier paring losses aft images and video of a burning Xiaomi SU7 sedan successful Chengdu circulated connected Chinese societal media.

Video and eyewitness accounts showed bystanders trying but failing to unfastened the doors of the burning car to rescue an occupant. Personnel astatine the country yet utilized a occurrence extinguisher to enactment retired the blaze, section reports said.

Chengdu constabulary said the clang occurred aft the SU7 collided with different sedan, sidesplitting a 31-year-old antheral operator who was suspected of driving nether the power of alcohol.

Xiaomi shares

Xiaomi, which manufactures user electronics, bundle and electrical vehicles, did not instantly respond to CNBC's petition for comment.

The latest incidental follows a fatal SU7 crash earlier this twelvemonth that raised questions astir the vehicle's astute driving features and sent Xiaomi's shares tumbling.

The clang could besides intensify scrutiny connected physics doorway handles, a plan popularized by Tesla and present communal successful modern EVs. 

Unlike mechanical models, physics doorway handles trust connected sensors and energy and whitethorn neglect during a occurrence oregon powerfulness outage.

China is considering a prohibition connected specified electrical doorway handles to code information risks linked to the feature, state-backed media reported successful precocious September.

Meanwhile, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched an investigation into astir 174,000 Tesla Model Y vehicles aft reports of doorway grip failures.