For at least ten years, electric cars marketed in China transmit a lot of information to the government. It has even opened a center specifically dedicated to their surveillance. In some cases, it is even possible to stop them at a distance.
The vehicles send data to their manufacturers, who then have to relay it to the center as well as to a laboratory managed by the authorities. In theory, this allows them to identify in near real time any problem that could endanger the users. But very few Chinese are really aware of these highly intrusive practices, according to the recent survey of the English-language media. Quartz.
Everything goes back to the Beijing Olympics
Interviewed by a chinese mediaSun Fengchun, director of the National Engineering Laboratory for Electric Vehicles created in 2009, said surveillance began at the Beijing Olympics a decade ago. At the time, China had used an electric shuttle to limit its CO2 emissions. “We can predict thirty minutes in advance any incident, including engine and battery problems, and we can stop the car.” In 2017, the laboratory opens the monitoring center for electric vehicles. Since then, the number of electric and hybrid vehicles sold in the country in 2018 has exceeded one million.
Currently, at least 1.6 million electric cars would send data to the platform according to Quartz. This includes, for example, their location, their battery level, their times and places of recharge. And the accomplices are not only Chinese manufacturers: international brands like Valkswagen, Nissan and Tesla would be concerned.
Data soon transmitted instantly
To justify this surveillance, Chinese authorities have invoked public security, US news agency reports Associated Press. This would, for example, prevent battery fires. However, at least 40 such fires were reported in China in 2018. According to Sun Fengchun, they occurred on vehicles sold prior to the establishment of the surveillance platform, and were not “registered” on this vehicle. this.
With the next system improvements, the data should be transmitted instantly to both the manufacturer and the platform. At the time of its creation, Sun Fengchun also proposed that it could recover the data directly, without going through the manufacturers. An idea that had not been retained.
Given the level of intrusion that the authorities operate on their citizens, whether they are inside or outside its borders, Chinese car companies may have some problems selling their vehicles internationally . Indeed, they will have to prove that they do not transmit data from foreign users to the Chinese government.