Denmark is taking urgent action with its 262 Chinese buses after Norwegian city made startling discovery while testing them

Norway’s capital Oslo just added hundreds of new electric Chinese buses to its public transport network. 

Built by Chinese manufacturer Yutong, the fleet was meant to help the city hit its clean energy targets. 

Unfortunately, a round of routine security testing revealed an unexpected discovery that threw everything into question. 

And now that discovery is having a ripple effect on Denmark, which is having to make a frantic decision over the hundreds of Chinese buses on its roads too.

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What they discovered in hundreds of Chinese buses

Having deployed a fleet of 300 Chinese buses around the Norwegian capital of Oslo, transport authority Ruter revealed that the EVs actually posed a huge security risk.

Through the same technology as over-the-air software updates, these Chinese buses could be accessed remotely from the manufacturer’s HQ in China.

Effectively, Yutong could shut the entire fleet down in seconds through the remote chip.

Norway’s transport authorities quickly took action by removing the SIM cards, which would prevent any hostile takeovers but unfortunately block any updates.

Now Denmark is scrambling to follow suit.

Movia, the largest public transport provider in Denmark, has 262 electric Chinese buses from Yutong in its ownership.

According to The Guardian, Movia Chief Operating Officer Jeppe Gaard said the security risk was a ‘problem’ for all types of EVs, not just Chinese buses.

“This is not a Chinese bus problem. It is a problem for all types of vehicles and devices with Chinese electronics built in,” he told the UK paper.

A Yutong spokesperson told the paper that it ‘strictly complies with the applicable laws, regulations, and industry standards’, while protecting the data with encryption.

“This data is used solely for vehicle-related maintenance, optimisation, and improvement to meet customers’ after-sales service needs. No one is allowed to access or view this data without customer authorization,” they said.

Chinese EVs are leaving public authorities worried

The situation with the electric buses has left authorities with greater concerns.

They’re worried there might be a similar security risk with all EVs produced in China.

Danish agency for civil protection and emergency management, Samsik, said there haven’t been any instances of remote access so far, but equipment such as sensors, cameras, and microphones all posed a security risk.

According to the UK outlet, authorities in Denmark have expressed reservations over relying on China before, and continue to be wary.

“The authorities have previously advised the transport sector in relation to the purchase of Chinese electric buses and are ready to advise and guide companies and authorities on the prevention and handling of threats,” a Samsik spokesperson said.

Chinese vehicles are making a huge splash right across Europe, and it doesn’t look like that’ll stop anytime soon.

BYD has just become the best-selling brand in the continent, while XPeng is opening factories in Austria.

Norway specifically has a massively impressive rate for EV sales; over 97 percent of the cars sold in 2025 have been electric, whereas America’s measly 10 percent pales in comparison.

But it’s clear that a reliance on Chinese buses and other vehicles might not be as secure as they’d hoped.

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