Behind the driver's death: There is risks in work, and car companies outsourcing mostly

Chief reporter Zeng Lingyi

Intern Wang Yanwei Zhang Xiaoqian

On June 23, Weilai Automobile testing the death of two test drivers was fermented on the Internet.

That night, Weilai responded that at around 17:20 on June 22, a Weilai tested vehicle and fell from the third floor of the parking building of Shanghai Innovation Port, causing two digital cockpit testers to be killed. One of them was a company colleague. Another partner and employee. According to the analysis of the situation, this is an accident, which has nothing to do with the vehicle itself. Although the cause of the accident is unknown, the risk of the test driver's work has caused widespread discussion. Some test drivers say that during the normal test, the testing staff sometimes needs to perform extreme operations to test the performance boundary of the car.

The scene of the Internet accident (picture source @网 网)

When driving a test vehicle that has not yet been mass -produced, how to ensure the safety of this group in the extreme environment or long mileage driving? The person in charge of the vehicle test team told Jimu Journalists that for the dangerous scenes, it is possible to perform simulation and simulation tests, or to place data with sensors on the vehicle to collect data. In addition, the company will also classify the driver to match different test work. However, Zhang Xiang, Dean of the New Energy Vehicle Technology Research Institute of Jiangxi New Energy Technology Vocational College, still reminds that the test risk coefficient of smart cars is higher than that of traditional fuel vehicles. It is recommended to improve the treatment and guarantee of testers.

Weilai responds to the dispute over the car falling accident

On the evening of June 24th, the entry#Weilai Ma Lin responded to the car falling incident#still on Weibo hot search.

On the afternoon of the 22nd, in the Shanghai Automobile Innovation Port, a car fell from the third floor, and the news of the two people in the car was exposed on the Internet.

On the 23rd, some media reported that the accident vehicle was a pure electric vehicle in Weilai SUV, and the two in the car died after being sent to the hospital for rescue. That night, Weilai responded that the accident vehicle was a test vehicle in Weilai, and the two were killed in the vehicle. One was a company colleague and the other was a partner employee. Preliminary confirmation of this is an accident, which has nothing to do with the vehicle itself.

On the evening of June 23, Weilai amended the incident statement.

However, the statement did not talk about the aftermath of the employee in the statement, but the wording of the accident that the accident had nothing to do with the vehicle itself caused controversy. Half an hour later, the official Weibo number of Weilai issued a statement saying that the company had cooperated with the public security department to launch the investigation and analysis procedure for the cause of the accident. In addition, the company has set up a special group to help family members to handle the aftermath.

The scene of the Internet accident (picture source @网 网)

On June 24th, Ma Lin, a senior director of Weilai Automobile Enterprises, continued to attract the response to the statement of the statement. Afterwards, Ma Lin did not respond to the matter. However, the employees who should treat and handle the trial accidents about Weilai still triggers discussion.

Many doubts about this time still have to be answered, and the danger of the tester's work has also triggered discussion and attention. What is the process of car testing? Why is a test vehicle parked in a public parking lot? When driving a vehicle that is still in the test, what quality of the testing staff is needed? How to ensure the safety working environment of testers?

Car test has certain risks

After the falling accident of Weilai, some people wondered why vehicle testing was performed on the third floor of a public parking building instead of special trial venues.

Some insiders of Weilai Automobile said that the accident vehicle should be a test vehicle for ET7. At the time of the incident, the vehicle being tested suddenly accelerated and broke through the wall column. The person pointed out that the open -air parking spaces in the park are insufficient, so the parking space for underground parking spaces and the construction of a multi -story parking building solve the park's parking problem. In addition, there are several large open -air parking lots outside the park. The outside parking lot, but there is a confidential requirement for the test vehicle, which will not be tested in the open -air parking lot, so it is tested in the parking building.

The scene of the Internet accident (picture source @网 网)

It is unknown whether the parking building meets the conditions of the car test. However, in addition to environmental risks, there are also risks in other links in car testing. After the accident, some media reported that car testers were high -risk workers. In the past, some people even signed a life and death, especially in extreme tests. There are also people in the industry that car companies tend to outsourcing the test business.

Lin Feng (pseudonym), a senior tester of BYD, told Jimu Journalists that there are all kinds of risks in the car test. "For example, the risks of extreme cold, extremely thermal, and altitude reaction during reliability and durability testing. There are also risks in the process of electric vehicle maintenance matching, such as rollover, tires and collisions during the performance test." Explanation said. However, he also emphasized that all the tests must be completed on the basis of ensuring safety, and the testers need to be bold and have a sense of safety.

There are control measures for test risks

However, Jiang Wei (pseudonym), the person in charge of a vehicle test team in Wuhan, believes that although the car test has certain risks. However, the test team will evaluate and control from environmental, vehicle and personnel skills in daily work.

Jiang Wei introduced to Jimu Journalists that in fact, the vehicle test was completed in the form of a team. The team members each had their own division of labor. For example, some people were responsible for driving, some were responsible for data collection, and some were responsible for equipment installation. In the process of car testing, as Lin Feng said, the extreme performance of the test of the vehicle is indeed more risky for car testers. In addition, the mileage test is also hard. "For example, we want to measure the performance boundary of the car. When operating, sometimes it is on the edge of this vehicle out of control and unprepared control. This requires excellent driver to have rich experience to control it. The border performance is tested. "Jiang Wei explained," There is another mileage test, such as running millions or tens of millions of kilometers before a model is listed. It is necessary to drive out in a short time, and this intensity is also very great. We are generally a car with several drivers. Everyone runs, such as running for six hours at a time. There may be an accident. "

For these existing risks, the industry and enterprises themselves have corresponding measures. The first is to evaluate the environment and the vehicle itself. Secondly, the company will also evaluate and evaluate the driver. "The industry generally divides the driver into 4 levels. In fact, people of different levels are different. Those tests of the danger level must be done by those who have the highest level driver's license. "

For some dangerous scenes, simulation tests can be achieved. Jiang Wei said, for example, in order to test how the car is better to ensure the safety of the driver in the collision scene. The test team will place a fake person in the car, and the dummy will arrange multiple sensors. Set up different speed simulation collision environments in the laboratory, and then collect values ​​from the sensor to evaluate and simulate the damage that real people may suffer.

For more than 10 years in the field of automotive research and development and testing, Jiang Wei believes that this kind of work is "risky, but it is not a high risk. Signing the status of life and death can not be discussed."

The director of Weilai Automobile Senior Communication made a statement on the amendment statement (screenshot of the network source network)

Car companies tend to outsourcing test business

However, Jiang Wei admits that for a variety of considerations, most of the current car companies have indeed outsourced all the vehicle testing business or part of the part.

Jiang Wei believes that this is the consideration of the enterprise for avoiding the aforementioned risks, and on the other hand, there are also human resources. "The demand for human development for manpower is fluctuating. For example, with the first stage of the project development, 100 people are required. It takes 500 people in the next stage, but only 20 people are needed in the next stage. The demand for personnel in this position is unstable, so it is reasonable to outsourcing this part of the business. "Jiang Wei said.

Zhang Xiang, Dean of the New Energy Vehicle Technology Research Institute of Jiangxi New Energy Technology Vocational College, said that before, passenger cars and cars were developed abroad, and then introduced to the country after technology. However, with the increasing domestic independent brands, the research and development capabilities of domestic car companies are getting stronger, and many trials have also been completed directly in the country. In fact, the vehicle test industry has a history of more than 20 years in China and is a relatively mature industry. Car companies have relevant regulations on the management and guarantee of testers. Therefore, the two testers who died in the accident of Weilai should be able to get reasonable compensation.

Zhang Xiang also reminded that the test risk of smart cars is higher than that of traditional fuel cars. On the one hand, smart cars are loaded with multiple sensors, chips and software. Therefore, during the test, its software control strategy is more complicated than traditional fuel vehicles.

Regarding its complexity, Zhang Xiang for example: "There are data now that the average number of smart car software code has exceeded 100 million lines, which is 10 times the number of software code rows of traditional Boeing aircraft and even fighters."

On the other hand, Zhang Xiang believes that smart cars are still a new thing, and the market time to enter China is not long. Relevant car companies are exploring in all aspects, and smart cars have greater risks than traditional cars. In the future, industry and automotive companies will increase the treatment and insurance amount of smart car testers.

- END -