Xpeng X9 airbags stay silent in crash that totaled vehicle, automaker says threshold not met

An Xpeng X9 owner in China says his seven-seat electric MPV’s airbags failed to deploy in a crash that left the vehicle a total loss. Xpeng says the impact did not meet the airbag sensor trigger conditions.

According to Jiemian News, Mr Liu was driving his X9 on October 15 when he hit a curb. The car then lost control, struck a roadside tree and a utility pole, and rolled over, with the front end badly crushed. No one was injured. After an inspection, the insurer judged the vehicle beyond repair and recommended scrapping it.

“We were lucky no one was hurt, but the airbags didn’t deploy even in this situation. That’s not reassuring at all,” Mr Liu said. He bought the car two years ago for nearly 500,000 yuan (roughly 74,600 USD). He doesn’t understand: if the airbag deployment criteria aren’t met even in these circumstances, then when will the airbags deploy?

In an emailed response to the reporter, Xpeng said that backend data and driving video show the vehicle was in manual driving mode at the time of the collision, and the driver kept pressing the accelerator and turned the steering wheel sharply before impact. The company said the crash did not reach the airbag sensor trigger threshold. It also said it would respect Mr Liu’s request for a third-party appraisal and cooperate on follow-up work.

The X9 is Xpeng’s first MPV and its most expensive model currently on sale. It went on sale on January 1, 2024, as a pure-electric seven-seat MPV with four configurations priced from 359,800 to 419,800 yuan (53,700 to 62,700 USD). In November last year, Xpeng launched the X9 EREV, its first extended-range model, in Max and Ultra versions priced at 309,800 yuan (46,200 USD) and 329,800 yuan (49,200 USD).

The X9 has also faced other quality issues this year. In June, Xpeng said global X9 deliveries had exceeded 60,000 units. Around the same time, owners reported sudden failures of the air suspension in hot weather, including one side or the whole body sagging. Xpeng apologised and later launched a recall.

On July 15, Xpeng extended the warranty on the front air spring system for affected X9 vehicles to 8 years or 160,000 km, regardless of ownership changes. On July 24, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation published a recall filing from Xpeng covering 33,473 X9 vehicles produced between August 8, 2023, and August 11, 2025. Some front air springs may leak slowly in high heat and humidity due to manufacturing variations, triggering warning lights and, in extreme cases, affecting handling. Xpeng will replace the front air spring strut assemblies for free.

According to China EV DataTracker, from January to September this year, a total of 15,805 XPeng X9 were sold in China.