The Xiaomi SU7 is the fastest production sedan around the Nürburgring, not the sort of car you want randomly driving off by itself. That’s exactly what appears to happen in a viral video showing an SU7 roll away on its own soon after the driver exits the vehicle and goes inside. The surveillance video shows the driver and a woman sorting through boxes, when suddenly, the car beeps twice and drives away as the couple runs after it.
According to Carscoops, the owner, Li Xiaoshuang, contacted Xiaomi customer service about the incident. After some research, the representative determined that the car had received a command to remote park from a device called “iPhone 16.2.” However, the video shows that he was not using his phone when the car drove away. He also owns an iPhone 15 Pro Max, not an iPhone 16. The owner asked Xiaomi to provide the car’s full operational logs rather than the partial excerpts it initially provided, Car News China reports. Xiaomi did not immediately respond to this request and was still investigating the incident. This was the point where the video went viral, leading to all kinds of wild speculation about the cause, including flaws in the car’s software and design.
An unintended auto cruise
Further investigation showed that Xiaomi was correct after all. The car’s owner shared his phone’s logs to help troubleshoot the problem. After comparing them to the vehicle logs, it turns out the owner’s iPhone 15 Pro Max did, in fact, send a remote parking command to the car shortly before it moved away on its own. While the video proves that the owner wasn’t using his phone at the time, a misinterpreted voice command could have activated the feature. As programmers like to say, it’s not a bug, it’s a feature. Both Xiaomi and the owner are satisfied with this explanation, according to statements each gave to Carscoops. Also, the initial confusion about the phone model occurred because Apple’s mobile device code for the iPhone 15 Pro Max is “iPhone 16.2,” as verified on this list. This code number is what Xiaomi showed in its logs rather than the model name, leading to the initial confusion about what phone the command had come from.
While it seems clear that the car didn’t wander off by itself, the question remains of how a false self-park command could have been sent in the first place. On my own iPhone, Siri activates when I don’t summon her somewhat regularly, especially through my motorcycle helmet intercom. Siri’s been able to start cars since 2011 with the help of other apps and services, so it’s all too easy to imagine a misinterpreted voice command activating the self-park feature. You don’t want your car going anywhere without your deliberate command, no matter how safe its self-parking capabilities may be.
