Electric car accident raises autopilot concerns

Lin Wenqin, founder of the brand management firm Meiyihao, died Thursday in accident after activating the autopilot navigation system while driving a Nio ES8, according to an obituary on Saturday, The Paper reported.

The accident, where Lin's car rear-ended the vehicle in front, is still under investigation by the police in Fujian province, reported the China National Radio website. Zhang Bo, CEO of the electric car startup Nio's Xiamen branch, said via the Nio app that they are cooperating with the investigation and assisting Lin's family in the aftermath, according to The Paper.

Notably, car accidents triggered by autonomous driving have happened before and involved multiple carmakers. Among them, a Great Wall Motor's Haval H9 rear-ended a truck when the driver used the adaptive cruise control system on Aug 4.

Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, said at present, there are problems with autonomous driving such as excessive publicity and misunderstanding among consumers.

Autonomous driving is divided into five levels by the United States Department of Transportation and the Society of Automotive Engineers. At Level 4, considered the start of real autonomous driving, an autonomous vehicle can be driven on roads in specific areas without human intervention.

But most electric vehicles for sale are at still at the first and second levels of assisted driving, always requiring human drivers to be ready to take over navigation of the car at any time, according to Yicai.com.