China Consumer News reported (Su Bingjie, reporter Geng Ji ‘an): "Since I bought this BYD Qin hybrid car, there have been constant problems, and I went to the 4S shop for repair at two ends every three days." Recently, Mr. Ren, a consumer in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, told the reporter of China Consumer News that more than a dozen BYD car owners had the same experience. What kind of problem is it that makes car owners so upset? The reporter of China Consumer News launched an investigation.
It’s annoying to buy a new car
Mr. Ren told reporters that at the end of April 2016, he went to Shenzhen and bought BYD Qin 2014 (BYD7150WTHEV2) hybrid car that he had been paying attention to for a long time at Shenzhen Jinhuanyi 4S store. When the pure electric mileage reached more than 3,000 kilometers, Mr. Ren found that his car had a "disease"-when the throttle was increased, the engine would have an abnormal sound. The staff of the 4S shop told Mr. Ren that if the engine needs to be replaced for renovation, the bearings should also be replaced. Because the abnormal noise was not very loud at that time, Mr. Ren gave up the idea of maintenance.
The good times didn’t last long. In October 2016, Mr. Ren’s car "relapsed" and it was more serious than before. Mr. Ren told the reporter that in pure electric mode, when the vehicle speed is kept at about 30 km/h, the vehicle with the accelerator pedal will be "frustrated", and at the same time, the engine compartment will make an abnormal noise. With the increase of driving mileage, the "frustrated" and abnormal noise will become louder and louder. Mr. Ren sent the car to BYD authorized service shop for testing, and the result was that there was something wrong with the motor transmission assembly. After replacing the transmission sub-assembly, when the mileage of the car increased by more than 3000 kilometers in pure electric mode, "frustration" and abnormal sound appeared again.
What bothers Mr. Ren is that the old car disease has not been treated and new diseases have been added. With the increase of mileage, Mr. Ren found that when the vehicle is fully charged, it can only last for more than 40 kilometers in pure electric mode. "When I bought a car, BYD claimed that it could charge 13 kWh. However, the new car can only charge 10-11 kWh when it is fully charged, and it can only charge 8-9 kWh when it is used for less than two years. BYD claims that in pure electric mode, the cruising range of the vehicle under comprehensive working conditions can reach 70 kilometers, and now it can only travel for more than 40 kilometers. " Mr. Ren told reporters.
Complaints are not a case.
According to the investigation by the reporter of China Consumer News, there are 11 car owners who can get in touch with Mr. Ren in a similar situation. They all bought BYD Qin’s 2014 1.5T flagship version, and the vehicles all had different degrees of "frustration" and abnormal noise. The problem still exists after four car owners have changed the transmission. Six people reported that the vehicle’s full battery life was less than 45 kilometers.
Mr. Zhang, the owner of Sanmenxia City, told the reporter that in less than three years, he has replaced two transmissions, and the problem remains unsolved.
Mr. Ren said that many owners of BYD Qin all over the country have reported such problems in their vehicles, and even more vehicles lost power due to transmission failure during driving, which was bad on the road.
According to official public information of BYD, the charging capacity of Ferrous lithium phosphate power battery used by BYD Qin is 13kw/h, 90% of the system uses pure electric mode in hybrid mode, and the driving mileage under comprehensive working conditions can reach 70km.
In response to the problems reflected by consumers, the reporter of China Consumer News called BYD’s official customer service number for consultation. BYD staff said that the battery capacity drop and abnormal noise are technical problems and need to be tested at local authorized stores. For the case that the vehicle has a battery life of less than 70km in pure electric mode, the staff said that the battery life of 70km in pure electric mode is the test data under comprehensive working conditions, and the specific battery life has a certain relationship with the road conditions, climate conditions, driving conditions, temperature, load, electrical appliance use, etc. It is suggested that the owner contact the authorized point designated by the manufacturer and said that this situation will be fed back to the relevant departments of the company.
Mr. Ren told the reporter that after discovering that there was a problem with the vehicle, he had a BYD authorized service shop for testing, and the results showed that it was normal. The tester explained that the abnormal noise might be caused by driving habits. "If only one person has this problem, it can be explained in this way, but is it because of driving habits that more than a dozen people have the same problem? I can’t accept this explanation. I have contacted 4S stores and manufacturers many times, but I have never been able to get a reasonable explanation. " Mr. Ren said.
● Expert opinion
Suspected of false propaganda
On April 13th, Zhao Jiqiang, secretary general of Henan Automobile Industry Chamber of Commerce, told reporters that the development of new energy vehicles is still in its infancy, the technical level is still restricted, and the industry standards are not standardized and unified. The technology of battery industry is still in the stage of civilian development. At present, the detection of battery capacity used in automobiles is not standardized. There are differences between real electricity and virtual electricity in batteries, and there will be errors between conversion. BYD, as an automobile manufacturer that independently develops batteries, has its own battery testing institutions and standards. As for whether BYD’s battery capacity has a false standard, it can only be known by testing the battery capacity by the authoritative testing organization of the state. However, from the time when the vehicle can charge 13 kWh to the later 8-9 kWh, it shows that the melting capacity of the battery has changed when charging, and there may be problems with the quality of the battery, which will affect the endurance of the car to a certain extent.
Ge Rui, a lawyer of Henan Haoying Law Firm, believes that if the problems reflected by the car owners are true after being tested by the appraisal agency, then BYD’s publicity will violate Article 9 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. "Operators shall not use advertisements or other methods to make misleading false propaganda on the quality, ingredients, performance, use, producer, expiration date and place of origin of the goods, and advertising operators shall not represent, design, produce and publish false advertisements under the circumstances of knowing or should know. If the owner can collect the evidence of fraudulent propaganda of BYD manufacturers, he can ask the merchants to "return one and lose three" according to the provisions of the Consumer Protection Law.
Li Hansheng, director of the Complaints Department of Henan Consumers Association, said in an interview with China Consumer News that Henan Consumers Association has received 12 complaints about abnormal sound of BYD Qin series vehicles, and manufacturers should consider recalling defective cars and eliminating the defects of automobile products through measures such as repair, replacement and return. At present, Henan Consumers Association has communicated and discussed with BYD Henan institutions for many times, instructing Yadi manufacturers to work out detailed solutions to the problem of abnormal sound that consumers have concentrated on.
China Consumer News will continue to pay attention to the progress of the incident. (Geng Ji ‘an)
