Xiaomi SU7’s front bumper takes a swim during autonomous parking
A Xiaomi SU7 made headlines after its autonomous parking manoeuvre nearly ended in a pond. Video shows the vehicle moving forward toward the water shortly after the occupants exited, with the front bumper touching the water surface before coming to a stop, as reported by Sina.
Comments from netizens focused on the driver’s decision to enable autonomous parking so close to a body of water, and on whether such use could raise concerns about water intrusion into the battery pack. Observers noted that the scenario did not resemble a standard parking environment, which may have affected the system’s interpretation of the available space.
The incident occurred soon after Xiaomi released a winter OTA update on November 26, Xiaomi Hyper OS 1.11.0. The update was rolled out to all SU7 owners and included changes to parking assistance, remote parking, and parking position finding. The company described these as system optimizations intended to improve the performance of the parking-related functions.
Technical specialists familiar with autonomous parking systems noted that such features continue to rely on the driver as the primary responsible party. They also highlighted that non-standard locations, such as pond edges or uneven open terrain, can lead to misclassification because the system may interpret a water surface as unoccupied space.
In this case, the vehicle’s stop upon contact with the water suggests that an irregular input or an unexpected obstacle may have been detected.
Separate reports from a user in Hangzhou described another autonomous parking incident at a campsite involving an SU7 Max purchased for over 300,000 yuan (approximately 42,500 USD). According to those accounts, the vehicle entered valet-parking mode but rolled down a slope before coming to rest against the stone base of a pavilion.
People nearby were alarmed, and the vehicle required towing for inspection, with an estimated repair cost of roughly 6,000 yuan (about 850 USD). After-sales staff reportedly attributed the situation to deviations from the recommended procedure and to a visual blind spot.
Other SU7 owners have previously raised concerns about inconsistent autonomous parking performance, including difficulty maintaining alignment in narrow spaces and unexpected interruptions to valet routines. Past cases involving software issues were followed by official responses indicating that repairs would be covered and that updates would address the underlying causes.
The recent discussion underlines that autonomous parking remains an assistive technology and that current systems may encounter limitations in irregular environments. Industry observers continue to emphasize that driver supervision remains necessary until higher levels of automation are formally validated across a broader range of real-world parking conditions.
