After the explosion of Beiqi electric vehicle, the manufacturer’s staff dismantled the car without rescuing people.

Recently, in Hangzhou, a leasing company’s newly purchased Beiqi Jihe electric car caught fire while driving. When Jihe’s manufacturer’s staff arrived at the scene, their first action was not to put out the fire but to remove the car logo and cover the car with cloth. Furthermore, the staff even reversed their work uniforms to hide the brand logo on their bodies, sparking public criticism.

According to reports from “Southern Metropolis Daily” and “First Finance and Economics,” in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, a Jihe ride-hailing car caught fire while carrying passengers. The vehicle involved belonged to the high-end Beiqi Blue Valley sub-brand, Jihe Cars. The manufacturer’s initial response upon arrival was to remove the car logo and dismantle internal components. The burning car’s body was covered with black cloth, and there was a staff member at the front suspected of using a hammer to tamper with the car’s logo.

Ms. Chen, an employee of the car rental company to which the ride-hailing car belongs, mentioned that the company purchased 10 Jihe cars in May this year and leased them to other companies. One of the cars caught fire during a drive on the afternoon of July 24. Subsequently, firefighters extinguished the fire, and manufacturer’s staff also arrived at the scene. However, without the owner’s permission, the manufacturer’s staff began dismantling the car logo and parts. Chen stated that the cause of the vehicle ignition has not been definitively determined, but the staff on site at the time did not listen to advice and continued to tamper with the car logo.

On the evening of July 25, Jihe Cars issued a statement on their official social media account regarding the “vehicle catching fire incident in Hangzhou.” Jihe mentioned that on July 24, a Jihe Alpha S vehicle caught fire in Hangzhou. After the accident occurred, local staff rushed to the scene immediately.

Jihe Cars stated that no abnormalities were found in the vehicle’s power battery before and after the fire. However, Jihe Cars expressed apologies for the superficial handling of the incident by their staff.

As reported by The Paper, the model of the vehicle that caught fire is the Jihe Cars’ Alpha S all-electric sedan, which was launched in April 2021 and is positioned as a mid-sized all-electric sedan. The price range is between 251,900 and 344,900 yuan.

Jihe Cars is a high-end intelligent new energy vehicle brand created by Beiqi Blue Valley. Beiqi Blue Valley is a listed company controlled by the state-owned Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd. Sales data shows that in the first half of this year, Beiqi Blue Valley sold a cumulative total of 28,000 vehicles, a 20.4% year-on-year decrease.

Its financial performance is also unsatisfactory. Financial reports show that from 2020 to 2023, Beiqi Blue Valley incurred losses of 6.482 billion yuan, 5.244 billion yuan, 5.465 billion yuan, and 5.4 billion yuan respectively, with a total accumulated loss exceeding 22.3 billion yuan in the past four years.

A performance forecast announcement indicates that Beiqi Blue Valley expects a net loss attributable to shareholders of the listed company in the first half of 2024 to be between 2.4 billion and 2.7 billion yuan, and expects to achieve a net loss attributable to shareholders of the listed company excluding non-recurring gains and losses between 2.45 billion and 2.75 billion yuan.