How Fragile Are China’s Pricey EVs? Paper-Thin Bodies Shatter, Door Handles Snap With One Pull

Come on, listen carefully. Hear how brittle that sounds? I just took this off the car. Someone told me that when I replace my car, I should buy a Chinese brand. They said Chinese EVs were so good now, loaded with features and all kinds of smart technology. And what happened? Just look at this thing. I don't know whether they build good cars, but I do know the people making them can't be trusted. Let's take a look at what kind of car this is. Guess what car this came from? Look at the material. It's plastic. Oh, what kind of car is this? It's a Huawei. They thought they were buying a high-tech smart car. Instead, they ended up with a fragile vehicle they had to handle with extreme care. Recently, more quality problems have emerged with Huawei-affiliated EVs, from malfunctioning components to potential safety hazards. The problems keep coming, leaving many patriotic consumers who once proudly proclaimed these cars were far ahead. As more cases come to light, People across China are discovering that these vehicles may be far more fragile than they ever imagined. In late October, an Aito M9 owner posted a video complaining that the protective coating on his headlights had already begun peeling off across large areas just two years after he bought the car. The owner could not resist making a sarcastic comment. I won't dare say what brand this is. I've only driven it for two years. Look at these headlights. The protective coating is The coating is already peeling off. Aren't they beautiful? Look at all those blotches. They look like psoriasis or vitiligo. In the comments, one person jokingly asked the owner why he hadn't spent a little less and bought a better quality car. The owner replied helplessly with just six Chinese characters, meaning, I've finally seen the light. The Aito M9 is a so-called full-size luxury SUV jointly launched by Huawei and Seres, and the flagship model of Huawei's Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance. It starts at around 480,000 yuan, while some higher-ends and extended versions cost 650,000 At those prices, it's hard to understand how such basic quality problems could still occur. The comment carried another layer of irony. To get a better quality car, buyers supposedly have to spend less. The more expensive a car becomes, the less reliable its quality seems to be. The absurdity left people unsure whether to laugh or cry. Another content creator shared something that also surprised viewers. On September 30th, a creator posted a video showing his first experience with the projection headlights on the Aito M9 Ultimate. Parked beside a wall at night, the car projected colorful animations directly onto it, while two children watched with fascination. The creator exclaimed that he had never known car headlights could project images and was amazed to see it for the first time. The comments quickly filled up. One person praised the image, saying it was even clearer than a projector. But many viewers were unimpressed by these so-called premium features, dismissing them as gimmicks. One asked how often anyone would actually use them while driving. Another joked that buyers used to care about power, chassis design, and handling. Now a headlight that can play Peppa Pig for the kids counts as a luxury feature. Before that controversy had died down, Another Aito M9 owner posted a video describing his own frustrating experience. I have to make fun of this Wenjing M9. I have to complain about this Aito M9 with such a huge infotainment system. It can't even complete a software update. Doesn't it normally update automatically? Today the update failed because there wasn't enough storage space. I haven't installed any huge apps. I only downloaded Today's Headlines and Changbao Karaoke app. Everything else came pre-installed with the car. And now it can't even update because there's supposedly not enough memory. My goodness, did they leave no free space at all? The comments section erupted in mockery. One person wrote that a luxury flagship with only 128GB of storage had quality comparable to a ride-hailing car. Another joked that the AITO M9 system apparently wasn't meant for downloaded apps and could only handle those installed at the factory. Another commenter said that just days earlier, the owner was showing off how technology had transformed life. Now he had to figure out how to free up storage space in his car. An even more dramatic incident involved a female AITO owner. Late one night, her Harmony Intelligent Mobility EV failed to start for the third time. Desperate, she posted an online appeal to Huawei executive Yu Chengdong. I am Yucheng Dongyu, who is now online calling for the Red Alliance. I'm calling on Mr. Yu Chengdong of Harmony Intelligent Mobility right now. I haven't been able to start my car since 104 in the morning. I'm still using a Huawei phone to connect to the system, but nothing works. I've been calling customer service non-stop and the problem still hasn't been resolved. This isn't the first time. It's the third time my car hasn't started, and this is the longest it's ever taken. People soon dug up her earlier videos and discovered that she had once been an outspoken supporter of Huawei products. The contrast between her public praise and her late-night plea for help was striking. Speaking. If you don't support brands from your own country and instead criticize them, that logic makes no sense. No matter which brand we're talking about, Li Auto, Xiaomi, Nio, Aren't they all Chinese brands? Apart from Tesla, most of the EVs on China's market are domestically made. Supporting any of these brands means supporting Chinese products. When something goes wrong, we should face it objectively, fix the problem, keep improving quality, and earn consumer trust. That's how things should work. Instead, people turn it into emotional blackmail. Who should be subjected to that? I believe that whether we're buying hybrids or EVs, as long as we're spending our money in China, we're supporting the Chinese economy. Notably, online screenshots show that her Douyin account was banned soon after she posted her complaint about the car failing to start. These recently exposed quality problems are not limited to Huawei-affiliated models. Owners of other Chinese EVs have also been reporting a string of defects, from sophisticated onboard electronics to the most basic body components. Almost nothing seems free of trouble. Even something as fundamental as a door handle can suddenly snap. This is a BYD, it really is a BYD. BYD will never make a good quality car. Look at this door handle, it's broken, so I had to tape it together. The driver's side is broken too, see that? How can it break just from opening and closing the door normally? Even the Wuling cars we buy for 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, or 30,000 to 50,000 yuan, don't have problems like this. They must have used inferior materials. Look, this part is broken too. The quality is terrible. This BYD is just unbelievable. What kind of car is this? What kind of car is this? Just look at it. It's rusted beyond belief. The floor has rusted right through. Can he even drive this thing? What brand is it? BYD. A Douyin Automotive creator spent 230,000 yuan on a Chinese EV three years ago, hoping to support a domestic brand. Instead, the car developed one unimaginable problem one after another in just three years. Cheers. Even a dog would shake its head at this Even a dog would shake its head at this. Guys, I can't take this car anymore. Every time I fix one thing, something else breaks. A few days ago, the windshield wipers malfunctioned. I finally got them fixed, and now something else has gone wrong. When I was charging it just now, I gave this connecting strap a gentle pull, and it snapped right off. Guys, I've only owned this car for 3 years. I still wasn't ready to give up on it. So I checked whether anything else was wrong. Then I touched another little support piece beside it, and that snapped immediately too. I paid 230,000 yuan for my hard-earned money for this car. Is this really the quality you're giving consumers? The creator went on to say he had already replaced numerous components because of quality problems over the past three years. The actuator, headlights, and driver's door handle had all been replaced. He had also needed repairs or replacements for noises inside the cabin and from the blower fan. Most frustrating of all, the front passenger seat had been replaced three times because of persistent noises, and the problem still had not been solved. The rear leather upholstery also cracked during the summer. What upset him most was that none of these were complicated high-tech features. They were basic vehicle components. He questioned why manufacturers couldn't use sturdier materials and better workmanship on such fundamental parts. You're the top domestic brand, right? I want to support you You're supposed to be China's leading domestic brand, right? I want to support you, but you can't fool me with quality like this. I paid 230,000 yuan for this car back in 2022, and this is a piece of junk you gave me. Another EV owner criticized the design flaws of the panoramic glass roofs. He said the feature might look fashionable, but it creates plenty of trouble for the owners. Brothers, I strongly suggest that you guys Guys, I strongly urge regulators to set standards for the enormous panoramic glass roofs on EVs. Stop putting in all these flashy designs. When I went driving today, I noticed extensive cracks running from this part of the glass roof towards the middle. It wasn't caused by the car itself, but by an outside impact. Look, there are two obvious impact points from small stones. The problem is that this is one huge sheet of glass. As anyone who has studied physics knows, a larger glass surface can become more vulnerable to damage from outside forces. Even if manufacturers use double-layer or multi-layer laminated glass, it can still break. Xpeng Motors' service department told me that replacing the roof, including parts and labor, would cost me more than 7,000 yuan. I can't bear to pay that myself, so I have to use insurance, but that will affect next And claims within the last three years can affect later premiums too. I already filed a claim for hail damage last year. Now the roof has cracked this year, and I can't leave it unrepaired. Unlike a bodywork scratch, these cracks could spread until the whole glass panel breaks. So why do we need these glass roofs? They don't open, and the summer sun is unbearable. The extra daylight isn't very useful to me. I have to buy sun shades and use them almost all year. Traditional gasoline cars may have panoramic sunroofs, but they rarely use a single enormous sheet of glass running almost front to back. They usually retain a surrounding roof frame for better structural support. And I'm not just criticizing XPeng. Many EVs have similar designs. He ended by urging manufacturers to limit the size of panoramic glass roofs rather than eliminate them altogether. People buy cars for safety, comfort, and peace of mind, not to face repair bills of several thousand or even more than 10,000 yuan because a small stone hits the roof. He called it another costly problem through no fault of his own and said the situation was deeply frustrating. As more owners reveal problems, Automotive professionals have also begun examining the technology behind these claims, that Chinese EVs are far ahead. Their assessments highlight another side of the industry's glossy marketing. Now attention is turning to two of the vehicle's most critical elements, chassis and the batteries that critics describe as fire and explosion hazards. This is the place of our 120,000 new cars. This is the chassis of one of our supposedly world-leading EVs. It looks like they've used plenty of materials and made it very safe. But is it actually comfortable? This entire heavy chassis relies on four air suspension units to adjust to road conditions. Driving it gives you almost no sense of control, and it feels like you're swaying around. Chassis engineering has developed over more than a century. You can't become an industry leader just by piling on more materials, and they actually advertise this chassis. I don't even know what to say. Hi, EV brothers, come and take a look. Everyone who drives an EV, come take a look. Don't laugh. You won't be laughing after you see this. This is the area right beneath where we normally sit. I've taken it apart to show you. Lift the carpet and there's the battery pack. There isn't even a steel plate above it. If there are layers of steel, it might give people inside a little extra time to react. If the underside were struck or pushed upward. Or if the car caught fire in an accident. Without additional protection, a battery fire could have extremely serious consequences. There might not even be anything left for a funeral. This thing could burn faster than a crematorium. When a car costs hundreds of thousands of yuan, Surely they could at least put a steel plate in there. Newenergyah is far ahead An EV supposedly far ahead of the competition, and just like that, it burned up in an instant. We have a new member in the lead. Here's one of those supposedly world-leading EVs. This plastic bracket broke from just a little light scrape. Look at the construction. There's only a thin sheet of metal. I don't know how much protection that can provide. Now look at the headlight design. The bracket has a slot that can break with just a little force. Half the headlight bracket is already broken, and when I barely touched it, the mounting tab above it snapped off too. What a shame. Cars keep getting more expensive, but couldn't they make these critical structures stronger and use more substantial materials? An EV dealer recently posted a video warning that some EVs are no longer worth buying, citing concerns about safety, quality, and resale value. He urged consumers to think carefully before purchasing one. I am a carpenter who specializes in selling new energy vehicles. I sell EVs for a living, so why am I telling people to be careful about buying certain models? In my view, many EVs today aren't what ordinary consumers think of as cars. What does a working family want? Something that saves fuel and money, is durable and safe, and can be driven reliably for 7 or 8 years or longer. Do many EVs today meet those needs? As someone in the industry, I don't think so. Some seem more like products designed to stimulate spending and domestic consumption, amid an economic downturn and a struggling property market. They're more like disposable goods, products that consume ordinary people's money. Drawing on his industry experience, the dealer then outlined six reasons why he believes ordinary families should not rush to buy EVs. First, he is concerned about the materials used for safety components. He said he had dismantled some EVs and found models without rear crash beams. Others had beams made of such thin material that he could bend them by hand. In his view, passing inspection standards does not necessarily mean a manufacturer puts consumer safety first. Second, rust protection is inadequate. He has bought used EVs only 2 or 3 years old that already showed rust around the door edges and underneath the chassis. He questioned how consumers could feel confident in a car that begins rusting after just a few years. Third, lifetime warranties are not as generous as they sound Many manufacturers advertise them but attach numerous conditions. Owners may have to use designated dealerships for maintenance, replace parts according to specific requirements, and risk losing coverage if they transfer ownership or have an accident. The dealer questioned how valuable a lifetime warranty really is if owners have to overcome so many obstacles to use it. Fourth, models are replaced so quickly that owners bear the biggest losses. Some manufacturers release two or three new New models in a single year, as new vehicles keep arriving. Older ones rapidly lose value. Someone who just spent hundreds of thousands of yuan could lose tens of thousands almost immediately. Constant changes to battery technology and components also create uncertainty about future repairs and replacement parts for older models. Ordinary families want to keep a car for 5 or 10 years, not to be forced to replace it just after 3 to 5 years. Fifth, advertised driving range could be far above actual performance. The car dealer said he drove an EV advertised to travel more than 317 miles on a charge. With air conditioning running normally, it managed only a little over 124 miles in city driving, and even less on the highway. He questioned whether consumers were buying a usable car or simply an impressive number in an ad. 6. Features are becoming flashier and prices keep climbing. LiDAR, smart driving, refrigerators, TV screens, oversized lounge-style seats, and new concepts keep appearing. Buyers must pay more for each extra feature. Yet what ordinary families need most is safe, durable, dependable transportation. Instead, automakers keep wrapping their products in high-tech marketing and charging consumers for new features and gimmicks. Finally, the car dealer advised working families who want to keep their cars for years not to be swayed by marketing slogans or luxury features. He suggested waiting a few more years for the technology, quality, and after-sales support to mature before buying. The car is not a fashion trend or an electronic toy For ordinary families, it's a major purchase, and choosing the wrong one means losing real hard-earned money. As people joked about quality problems with Chinese EVs, Some turned their attention to Europe, where concerns about the safety of Chinese EVs have also been growing. On November 4, 14 members of the European Parliament jointly wrote to the European Commission asking it to assess whether BYD vehicles pose security risks and considered restrictions, including excluding them from public procurement. They also called for an assessment by the European Union's cybersecurity agency and urged consideration of adding BYD to a list of high-risk suppliers. One commenter joked that European governments might not need to worry quite so much. Chinese EVs may indeed pose data security risks, but even their basic build quality is cause for concern. Roof glass can crack from stones, chassis engineering has come under scrutiny, and components keep malfunctioning. Whether the onboard surveillance equipment would even work properly is another question. After all, if you're going to monitor other people, you first need equipment that's reliable enough to do the job.