EXPERTS have warned about an “invasion” of Chinese electric cars that could paralyse the UK and put drivers at risk.
They say the EVs could be fitted with spyware or other devices that could remotely control the vehicles and stop them in their tracks.
Another threat is “over the air” software updates which are done through a SIM-like card built into cars.
If a malicious actor gained access to the update systems then it is possible they could beam out software that spied on the car and the driver remotely.
Loughborough University’s Professor Jim Saker, who is also the president of the Institute of the Motor Industry, said Britain faces “major security issues” from the imported cars from China.
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He also warned there was “no way” of stopping them coming under remote control.
Prof Saker said in a report set to be shared with car makers and regulators: “The car manufacturer may be in Shanghai and could stop 100,000 to 300,000 cars across Europe, thus paralysing a country.'”
Speaking to The Telegraph, Prof Saker said that while regulators are able to test a sample selection of cars for concealed devices he added that it was simply not possible to check thousands of vehicles.
Ken Munro, a security expert and ethical hacker at Pen Test Partners, who test for holes in security, said that if security is lax it can be used to spy on motorists.
He said: “We did a bunch of work on aftermarket car alarms. And we discovered that in many of them, you could actually remotely enable the microphones and listen to people in the cars.”
It’s thought as many as 30 new EV brands are hoping to break into the UK’s car market, with most of those being Chinese.
CHEAP CHINESE EVS
One of those brands is BYD which recently unveiled an electric hatchback which it intends to sell for less than £8,000, considerably cheaper than most petrol-fuelled models.
The company claims the Seagull, which is smaller than a Ford Fiesta, will be able to go 252 miles on a single charge.
China is now the world’s largest exporter of cars, having leapfrogged Germany and Japan earlier this year.
In the first quarter of this year it shipped 1.07million abroad.
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'INVASION'
Carlos Tavares, the head of Stellantis, who own Vauxhall, warned of an “invasion” of Chinese electric vehicles.
He claimed that Stellantis faced a difficult situation where it had to compete with Chinese-made cars which are cheaper while still having to invest billions of pounds into electrification.
Prof Saker also highlighted a report published in July, where MPs warned that China had successfully entered every sector of the British economy.
UK NOT DOING ENOUGH
He warned the UK has not done enough about the threat of China using its dominance in the market for key minerals such as lithium.
The expert said: "Virtually every country is trying to fight against an overreliance on China, except the UK."
The former Home Secretary, Dame Priti Patel has said the Government should slow the transition to electric vehicles if the influx of Chinese cars threatens to wipe out the UK’s car industry as well as pose a security threat.
She said: “The whole point about net zero is it should not disproportionately impact, disadvantage or discriminate against our country in any way.”
“Under no circumstances can we revert backwards and end up being dependent on nations like China.
“We’ve just gone through the Golden Era where we were effectively cosying up to the Chinese state and that basically left our state institutions, our national security, key infrastructure assets, completely at risk from espionage, interception, being bought out and taken over, including companies that hold the data of British citizens.
Under no circumstances can we revert backwards and end up being dependent on nations like China
Dame Priti Patel
“Our approach to net zero has to be match-fit for our country and make us secure when it comes to energy and technology… making sure that we have homegrown options, and that we are not franchising it out and giving it away to nations that, quite frankly, do pose a threat to us.”
Patel added: “The risk exposure to our country and to British citizens is very real and it’s something that people need to go into with their eyes wide open, we can’t be naive about this anymore.”
China is dominant in the production and refining of lithium as it owns many of the mines producing it, according to The Telegraph.
As Chinese car manufacturers have more access to the battery technology needed for EVs, that means they can bring vehicles to market faster.
In the UK, more than 265,000 battery-electric cars were registered in 2022, a 40 per cent rise from 2021.
