In the current automotive industry, there is a well-known phenomenon that a configuration arms race is sweeping across all car companies. From continuous giant screens to multi-color ambient lights, from car refrigerators to high-end speakers, manufacturers spare no effort in piling up luxurious configurations that are easy to market and can quickly attract attention. However, when the rare hail smashed the roof out of the pit, the relentless rainstorm flooded the street, the continuous high temperature baking circuit, and the sudden drop in temperature swallowed up the battery power, these carefully packaged redundant configurations looked so pale and powerless in front of consumers' most real dilemma. Since the beginning of this year, many parts of China have experienced a series of extreme weather events, from rare hail to sustained high temperatures, from heavy rainfall to sudden cooling. Especially during the period from late September to early October, high temperatures persist in the south, while cold air is active in the north. As of the time of writing, many places have experienced severe cooling. These abnormal climate phenomena pose unprecedented challenges to hundreds of millions of car owners across the country.

On the other hand, in the reality of frequent extreme weather, this competition in the car market cannot provide any substantial help. Looking at the big picture, car companies are keen on promoting the size and number of screens, but seldom mention the response speed and reliability of car engine systems in rainstorm or extremely cold weather. They wrapped the seats in Nappa leather, but did not consider how the interior materials could effectively resist mold and bacteria in continuous rainy weather. It can be said that configuration competitions often provide only icing on the cake, rather than providing timely assistance in extreme weather conditions. Extreme weather is like a mirror, reflecting a fragile link beneath the current prosperity of the automotive industry. When a car does not have the most basic quality of durability, what do consumers want?

How extreme weather affects cars

On the evening of May 13th, Beijing experienced rare severe convective weather, with hail exceeding 4 centimeters in diameter appearing in many places such as Shijingshan and Shunyi, with the largest volume approaching the size of an egg. Under the dense hail, vehicles parked outdoors were hit by an "unwarranted disaster": the windows were instantly covered in spider web cracks, the roof metal was dented and deformed, and some vehicles' sunroofs were directly shattered. This hailstorm triggered 28200 reports from property and casualty insurance institutions in the Beijing area alone, with an estimated loss of 193 million yuan. What is even more worrying is that some car owners illegally parked under the overpass to avoid hail, causing severe congestion on the main roads of the Third and Fourth Ring Roads. Even some consumers have paid for new cars that have not been picked up yet, and the roof of the car has been smashed with numerous small pits, resulting in no way to claim compensation.

The aftermath of hail remains unsettled, and the invasion of floods follows one after another. In July, Wuqi County, Shaanxi Province, was hit by a sudden extremely heavy rainstorm. The flood of Beiluo River overtopped the river embankment, flooded the streets along the river, and several cars were washed away by the flood. Some basement garages flooded, resulting in the scrapping of vehicles. In the same period, Yingde, Huaiji and other places in Guangdong suffered from extremely heavy rainstorm, with a 6-hour rainfall of 160 mm, and frequent vehicle wading failures. Extreme rainfall has led to the concentrated circulation of flooded vehicles. In August, a car auction platform for a certain accident showed that more than 4000 new flooded vehicles were added to the market every day nationwide, most of which were estimated to be total loss vehicles by insurance companies and were repaired or dismantled before entering the market again. Many netizens have expressed that if some repair shops omit core testing, it will leave safety hazards. In fact, this summer, temperatures in many southern regions have exceeded 40 ℃, posing multiple challenges for 270 million gasoline car owners nationwide. The high temperature causes a sudden rise in the engine compartment temperature, softening and damaging the insulation layer of the old car circuit, and increasing the risk of short circuit and fire. After the oil system is heated, gasoline evaporates and accelerates. If the oil pipe leaks, it is easy to form a combustible mixture, which becomes a mobile fire source. Meanwhile, vehicles that have been in use for more than 5 years commonly experience air conditioning compressor failures, and frequent use of air conditioning increases fuel consumption by 0.5-1 liter per 100 kilometers, putting them in a dilemma of "cooling and energy consumption". For these car owners, on the one hand, the aging of the car brings about poor experiences such as insufficient power and air conditioning, and on the other hand, they have to endure the problem of increased fuel consumption.

New energy vehicles are also unable to escape difficulties in high temperatures. According to data from the Ministry of Emergency Management, there were 287 new energy vehicle fire accidents nationwide in the first three quarters of 2025, an increase of 15% year-on-year. Although the annual self ignition rate of new energy vehicles (0.0044%) is still lower than that of fuel vehicles (0.0058%), high temperatures exacerbate battery risks. In June, a new energy vehicle suddenly caught fire when it entered the parking lot. Monitoring showed that the vehicle was violently bumpy first, followed by thick smoke coming out within a few seconds, and ultimately the entire vehicle was destroyed. It is preliminarily judged that the chassis was scratched and caused the battery to lose control due to thermal runaway. Industry analysis points out that continuous high temperatures cause a sudden increase in battery heat dissipation pressure. If there are problems such as insufficient sealing, it is highly likely to cause overheating and loss of control, which has become an important factor in the rise of accidents. The impact of extreme weather is not limited to severe disasters, as persistent rainy weather and sudden drops in temperature also pose challenges. The continuous rainy weather in Zhumadian, Henan Province has led to high air humidity. Many car owners have reported that the seats and floor mats in their cars are covered in mold, and the air conditioning system has a strange odor due to the growth of mold. Even if the filter element is replaced, it is difficult to eliminate it. The reality is that this situation is more common during the southern rainy season. The cliff like cooling after autumn in the north has caused new energy vehicle owners to fall into range anxiety. Recently, temperatures in many northern regions have dropped sharply from nearly 30 ℃ to around 10 ℃, and the actual range of some car models has decreased by more than 40% compared to normal temperature. Low temperature also leads to a decrease in charging efficiency, causing great inconvenience to the daily travel of new energy vehicle owners.

Of course, it's not just domestic cars that have these issues. The "Analysis Report on Automotive Complaints in the Third Quarter of 2025" released by Chezhi.com shows that the number of complaints from independent, joint venture, and imported brands all increased in the third quarter. The complaint volume for the 2025 model continues to rise. The number of complaints regarding quality issues, service issues, and comprehensive issues has significantly increased in the third quarter. From the proportion of quality complaints and malfunctions, the top few are steering system abnormal noise, component aging, steering wheel misalignment, audio and video system malfunction, dashboard cracking, body rust, paint bubbles, power battery malfunction, etc. In the future, with the continuous evolution of the climate system, automobiles may face more unpredictable extreme weather challenges - salt spray corrosion in coastal cities may exacerbate the aging of precision components, strong sandstorms test the sealing performance of the three electric systems, and frequent freezing rain and freezing will put more stringent durability requirements on chassis wiring harnesses and suspension structures This extreme test of automotive climate adaptability has just begun.

Is it difficult to make a reliable car?

The joys and sorrows of humanity are not interconnected, only those car owners who have been hit by hail, soaked in water, and anxious about charging and range, would they think: Can my car body cover be harder? Can't the sealing performance of the car body be better? Can the self ignition loss of each component be slower? Should the chassis be protected against corrosion and rust for 10 years? Can air conditioning have sterilization function? ......

When the main battery of a car has to be charged frequently due to half of its range in sub zero environments, and when the risk of self ignition increases in high temperatures due to aging wiring of old fuel vehicles, can the rotating central control screen or dazzling projection lights be replaced with better, more reliable, and higher quality components? Believe it, the troubles of these consumers are specific. The cars they want are safe and reliable. On the other hand, the polarization in this reality is a result of car companies' eagerness for quick success and instant benefits. A large amount of R&D resources and marketing budgets are invested in comfort and entertainment features that can create gimmicks, but there is relatively insufficient investment in the fundamental issue of how to improve the quality resilience of vehicles in extreme weather conditions. We need more reliable physical keys and doors and windows with better sealing to cope with rainstorm and sand dust. We need stronger tempered glass and more elastic body covering materials to resist hail attacks. We need more precise and forward-looking battery thermal management warning systems and more aging resistant wiring harness standards. When the industry is struggling with comfort and intelligence, it has to some extent overlooked the reinforcement and improvement of the bottom line of safety and reliability in the face of new climate challenges. However, in this fierce configuration arms race, several car companies have chosen to quietly develop.

On August 26th of this year, the China Polar Research Center (China Polar Research Institute), the China Automotive Center Engineering Institute, and Avita Technology (Chongqing) Co., Ltd. launched a strategic cooperation on "Global Adaptive Development and Application of Advanced Common Technologies for New Energy Vehicles" and unveiled the "Global Adaptive Development and Application Innovation Base for Advanced Common Technologies for New Energy Vehicles". Zhang Zhiguo, Chairman and Party Secretary of China Automotive Center Engineering Institute, stated that "this cooperation will simulate typical user scenarios in extremely cold environments, conduct functional safety fault injection testing on steering systems, braking systems, vehicle control systems, and electric drive systems, develop and verify the functional safety of key component systems under extreme cold conditions, and organize adaptive development and application testing after the vehicle lands in Antarctica." Subsequently, on October 11th, Great Wall Motors officially signed a contract with China Polar Research Center, announcing that it will provide support for China's polar exploration, and the two sides will jointly carry out the research and development testing project of China's North and South Pole scientific exploration vehicles. Tank 300 will carry important missions such as scientific research material transportation, personnel commuting, and emergency support, and verify the reliability and adaptability of Chinese manufacturing in real polar environments. Looking around, these two pieces of news are unremarkable in the current automotive public opinion environment. However, the strategic foresight and industrial significance behind it far exceed conventional configuration stacking.

While most competitors are still focused on the internal competition in urban commuting scenarios, these car companies have turned their attention to the limits of human activity. Polar regions, as the most rigorous natural testing ground on Earth, pose the ultimate test for the performance, reliability, and durability of vehicles on extremely cold, strong winds, and complex roads. Choosing to endure hardships in the polar regions is the most extreme stress test that is actively conducted. The technology and components validated in this environment, along with the accumulated data and experience, will cascade back to civilian vehicle models. A battery management system or electric drive system that can operate stably on the Antarctic ice sheet will undoubtedly have a qualitative improvement in its ability to cope with the widespread low temperatures in northern China during winter. For a long time, although Chinese brands have made great strides in market share, they still need to improve in terms of top-notch mechanical quality and extreme environmental reliability. Proactively challenging harsh environments means that Chinese cars can not only lead in configuration and cost-effectiveness, but also enter any global market with top-notch reliability and adaptability. This forward-looking layout is no longer a short-term behavior that follows market trends, but a long-term investment that leads the industry and defines future standards. It is a real experiment that truly considers consumers. It is also a return to the original essence of automobiles, a means of transportation that can conquer any environment and is absolutely trustworthy.