Chinese bus maker responds to claims it can remotely deactivate vehicles in Europe as alarm grows

A Chinese bus maker has responded to claims in Europe that it can remotely deactivate some of its EV buses.

Recent reports have come in that Yutong buses have an unusual security loophole, allowing the manufacturer to have remote access to the electric buses and their software updates.

That has prompted a lot of alarm and fears where the buses are used in Europe, particularly in Norway and Denmark.

However, the company has since responded to the claims to try and clarify its position amidst this unusual story.

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What has been said about the Chinese bus issues

In Denmark, the largest public transport company is Movia.

They utilize 469 Chinese electric buses, with 262 of them coming from Yutong.

Movia’s chief operating officer, Jeppe Gaard, said he was recently made aware of issues with the buses.

Gaard told the Guardian: “Electric buses – like electric cars – can be remotely deactivated if their software systems have web access.”

“This is not a Chinese bus problem. It is a problem for all types of vehicles and devices with Chinese electronics built in.”

The Danish agency for civil protection and emergency management, Samsik, has also waded in.

They said it was not aware of a case where the vehicles were deactivated.

But it did say the vehicles had ‘subsystems with internet connectivity and sensors (cameras, microphones, GPS)’.

These could lead to some security vulnerabilities that could be exploited when they are used.

Yutong responds to the security claims

The Chinese company at the center of all the claims has since responded.

Yutong said it ‘strictly complies with the applicable laws, regulations, and industry standards of the locations where its vehicles operate’.

Yutong also said that the terminal data for its vehicles in the EU were stored in Frankfurt.

These are at an Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center.

The comapny also said the data is only used for maintenance, optimization, and to improve the customers’ needs.

It is adamant that nobody can access or view the data of its vehicles without any customer authorisation.

But Denmark is still wary of any potential issues that could arise with the Chinese-made EVs.

Meanwhile, Norway has also had its own issues with the vehicles.

However, its own Ministry of Transport has failed to comment to organisations such as The Guardian on the matter.