Key Safety Measures Implemented at NIO After Shocking e-Salon Car Accident: Lessons Learned and Costs Incurred

“In the morning, the director of the exhibition, Jana Nosalová, came to see us to check the preparations,” describes Jakub Geršl, owner of the Cario company, on the first day at the exhibition. It imports Chinese cars to the Czech Republic and especially in the NIO brand, but also Rising and BYD. “We prepared for it and tested different situations that could arise. All cars have cables or at least connectors in their plugs. And we preferred the keys from NIO cars to hide completely,” he said.

Thanks to this, the car should not start even if a strange visitor manipulates the gear selector and steps on the gas. At the same time, it can be in the so-called “standing” mode, so that the lights are on and people can look at the infotainment menu after sitting behind the wheel and thus a better view get on the car.

Security is being addressed more at this year’s e-Salon show just because of last year’s event. A student from the Transport Technical High School, who arrived at the event as part of a school event, sat in the car to investigate, accidentally engaged in D mode, stepped on the accelerator pedal, and the car sped off suddenly.

During the 20-meter journey, he crashed over a flower pot and ended up in an Iveco electric van. The Nio ET5 Touring had a damaged nose and hood, the Iveco was also damaged. Photos at the time were provided by Radovan Skokan to Aktuálně.cz.

At the same time, the car arrived in the Czech Republic just a few days before the show, after which the customer was supposed to take it over. “So I took it back to Germany for repairs after a week,” explained Geršl.

Although it was not a major damage, the headlights, mask, mud guard, front sensors, rear view mirror, door and handle had to be damaged by the flower pot. In the end, the repair cost about a quarter of a million crowns.

Moreover, the whole incident had an unpleasant outcome for the owner. “Although he was a student and was there with the class as part of the lesson, the principal of the school, who is insured for such incidents, refused to speak to me, saying we should get a refund from the boy’s parents. We didn’t want to spend additional resources on lawyers and mostly we didn’t want to get compensation from the family, who were very unhappy about it, so we took it as it is,” said e.

This is also why this year the exhibitor did everything possible to secure the car. “The NIO is the only one for which it is enough for a person to stand nearby with the key in his pocket, and if someone in the meantime engages in D mode, it can start even after half an hour. That’s why we deleted everything. digital access from the application on our mobile phones, we hid the physical keys “The car company has even introduced a display mode in the car, but it is managed by the controller at NIO. It is said that, for reasons of time, it would not be possible to unlock the cars at a distance on Sunday, and we could not drive away with today’s cars. “

The car, which was repaired after last year’s accident, remained in the possession of the Cario company and is being used for trials. “Although they say that even negative PR is good PR, if I could return it, I would definitely return,” concluded Geršl.