While footage of the electric motor being dragged has spawned various memes, the incident involved a serious underbody collision
A recent widely circulated viral post shows a BYD Tang SUV with its rear electric drive motor assembly separate from the body. The only thing holding the motor in place as it was being pulled backward was the flexible, orange high-voltage wiring harness. BYD has analyzed the incident and identified a specific cause that could have triggered this bizarre and dramatic chain of events.
BYD statement
When a post goes viral, it will naturally attract different theories and viewpoints. Questions were raised on quality standards in this incident involving BYD Tang. Since the SUV was seen moving in heavy rain, claims were also made that the heavy flow of water could be somehow linked to the incident. However, according to BYD, the rear motor assembly separation incident was caused by a “severe underbody collision.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCBvA3tOSJE
In the viral footage and images shared online, one can see only a small part of the SUV’s entire journey that day. It is possible that the SUV may have previously passed through a flooded road. There, its bottom could hit a submerged, hidden obstacle. This could be any object such as a submerged cement block. Or a lifted manhole cover or other heavy debris is hiding on a flooded road.
Due to heavy rain it is possible that the driver may not have noticed the motor being pulled backwards. The SUV was still able to move forward as it is an AWD model with front and rear electric motors. Since the front electric motor and its independent controller were undamaged, the SUV continued moving forward.
Motor detachment part of safety design
In an electric car, parts such as the electric motor are attached to the frame using special metal mounts. These are designed for a specific load, beyond which, they serve as controlled shear points. This setup ensures greater safety for passengers. The motor mount is designed to snap into place in the case of a severe frontal or rear impact.
In such cases, the motor will fall down or move away instead of being pushed into the cabin. This is likely what happened with the viral incident reported online. The only difference is that in this case the collision is likely to occur with some submerged object below. The viral video also shows that the electric motor was possibly still rotating. It could continue to get power from the battery pack.
BYD Tang is a family-oriented 7-seater SUV, available in pure electric and plug-in hybrid formats. PHEVs are available in efficiency focused (DM-I) and performance oriented (DM-P) versions. The pure electric versions use a 108.8 kWh battery pack. Range is up to 950 km with RWD and 850 km with the AWD variant. The PHEV versions use a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine, paired with a 21.5-35+ kWh LFP battery pack.