Key facts
- Brake pedal brackets fractured during emergency braking tests on three Maextro V800 minivans.
- The Maextro V800 is a luxury minivan priced between $114,250 and $151,540 USD.
- Maextro will offer a free upgrade for redesigned brake pedal brackets to existing owners.
- Chinese regulators are considering new rules for testing new car models.
- Yangwang, BYD's luxury brand, highlighted its all-metal brake pedals and higher safety standards.
Brake pedal failures in a luxury electric vehicle from Maextro, a brand backed by Huawei and ex-Nio manufacturer JAC, have raised concerns about the quality and reliability of Chinese-made cars. The Maextro V800 minivan, priced up to $151,540 USD, experienced brake pedal bracket fractures during emergency braking tests.
Chinese media outlet Dongchedi reported that the failures occurred on three separate occasions during tests from 100 km/h. While Maextro acknowledged the component issue and pledged to offer a free upgrade to redesigned brake pedal brackets for existing owners, the incident has cast a shadow over the brand's credibility and the broader Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) industry.
In response to the failures, BYD's luxury brand Yangwang, through its assistant general manager Zheng Yu, showcased its own vehicles' fully metal brake pedals and higher safety standards, emphasizing that their pedal assemblies are made from stamped steel and designed to withstand a maximum force of 2,500 N, exceeding China's national standard of 2,000 N.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), along with three other ministry-level authorities, published draft rules on Saturday that would govern the testing of new car models, a move that comes after the Maextro incident and highlights regulatory efforts to step up policing of quality and reliability in the rapidly growing Chinese EV market.