Bizarre new Chinese EV feature slammed!

One Chinese EV maker is trialling a new safety feature, which has been panned online.

A video posted to X shows an iCar 03T (iCar is Chery sub-brand) undergoing a bizarre safety procedure.

The video shows the electric 03T explosively ejecting its battery to mitigate any safety risk to the car.

X users were quick to slam the idea.

One user wrote: "Also, are we trying to kill pedestrians instead of putting vehicle occupants at risk? What an asinine design."

Another said: "Absolutely annihilating the kids walking down the sidewalk."

"Watching this makes my ankles hurt," wrote another.

This tech is believed to mitigate the risk of battery fire, known as thermal runaway, which is extremely hard to extinguish and is at risk of reigniting even after the fire has been initially quenched.

The novel idea asks more questions than it answers.

Yes, it can help protect the car, but the manner and violence in the way the battery is expunged could lead to damage and injury to nearby vehicles, pedestrians and other road users.

There is no evidence this safety feature is in production vehicles yet.

The risk of an electric car fire is highly unlikely according to Australian data.

EV Fire Safe, which is backed by the federal government, said there have been eight electric car fires since 2021 in Australia and only one is from an unknown cause with the rest the result of an accident, an external fire or arson attack.

Electric vehicle fires are rare, but when they start they can have devastating results.

US shipping company Matson announced earlier this year it would cease to accept any booking to move electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles, according to reports.

The announcement follows the sinking of the Morning Midas off the coast of Alaska, which was caused by a fire starting in an electric car.

Chery’s iCar vehicles are currently not on sale in Australia but they could land Down Under in coming years.

According to Autocar, iCar will launch in the UK in 2026, however it will be marketed as ‘iCaur’ outside of China given Apple owns the rights to ‘iCar’.

Chery Australia is remaining quiet on the iCar brand for now, with a company spokesperson telling CarsGuide previously: “We’re certainly interested in the exciting product that was revealed at the Shanghai Motor Show. However, at this early stage there are no confirmed plans.”