Britain's Ministry of National Defense (MoD) will put stickers warning of eavesdropping and location tracking on Chinese-made electric vehicles used by its staff. Israel has gone further, effectively unsheathing the sword of "kicking out Chinese cars" from its defense ministry. As the number of Chinese-made EVs on roads worldwide grows, national security authorities are raising higher barriers to block them.
Local outlets including the Telegraph and the Times said on the 18th (local time) that Chinese-made EVs introduced by Britain's Ministry of National Defense to curb the climate crisis have turned into a "Trojan horse" threatening national security.
According to the outlets, Britain's Ministry of National Defense recently affixed a red warning sticker reading "MOD Devices are NOT to be connected to this vehicle" on the front passenger side of Chinese-made EVs introduced as official vehicles. Another sticker that must be placed inside the vehicle reads, "Avoid conversations at Official classification or above inside the vehicle."
The British government is pushing a strong policy to ban sales of new gasoline and diesel cars starting in 2030 to meet its net zero goal. Government departments, leading by example, rapidly swapped their official vehicles for EVs. Britain's Ministry of National Defense was no exception. Of the vehicles currently owned by the ministry, there are 745 battery electric vehicles and 1,400 hybrids.
But with a tight budget over a short period and EVs being relatively more expensive than internal combustion cars, large purchases narrowed the options to cheaper Chinese models. Britain's Ministry of National Defense chose MG (Morris Garages), a brand under Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), among Chinese EV brands. MG was originally a British brand, but after management troubles it was sold to China's Nanjing Automobile in 2005. It is now produced in China with Chinese technology and capital. It is a familiar brand to Britons, but it is now effectively a Chinese car.
While internal combustion cars of the past were products of mechanical engineering, today's EVs are closer to high-performance computers on wheels or giant smartphones. That is where security holes emerge. Security experts point to the "cellular Internet of Things (IoT) module," essential in EVs, as the main culprit. This component keeps the vehicle constantly connected to the internet to send and receive data. Core convenience features such as real-time navigation, driver-assistance, and remote start all ride on this network. The channel can become a pathway for hackers or hostile-state intelligence agencies to infiltrate.
Britain's Ministry of National Defense judged that contacts, text messages, and location histories stored in smartphones could travel via charging cables to the vehicle's main computer (ECU), and that this data could then be transmitted to servers in China through the in-vehicle communication module. Microphones inside the vehicle could become bugging devices that record passengers' conversations and transmit them in real time.
The Telegraph, citing a former British Army intelligence officer, said, "Modern vehicles are equipped with complex data collection systems that can record information and voices from all devices connected to the vehicle," adding, "The Ministry of National Defense should have realized at the introduction stage that the Chinese government would exploit this."
As a result, the British government poured tax money into Chinese corporations under the banner of protecting the environment, and in return brought vehicles with eavesdropping risks into its own house. Conservatives and security experts in Britain criticized this as "sacrificing national security on the net zero altar."
The Israeli case is even more dramatic. According to CTech and the Times of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said earlier this month that it would recall all 700-plus Chinese-made leased vehicles that had been issued to senior military officials. It indicates that a tangible threat has been detected, beyond mere concern.
Since 2022, Israel's Ministry of National Defense has provided the Chery Automobile Co. SUV "Tiggo 8 Pro" to mid-level and senior officers such as lieutenant colonels and colonels with large families. Israel is among the Western countries most dependent on Chinese EVs. Last year, EVs accounted for 18% of new car sales in Israel. Of those, about 60% were Chinese brands such as BYD, Geely, and Chery.
When introducing these vehicles, the Israeli military conducted a so-called "sterilization" to address security concerns by disabling in-vehicle cameras, microphones, and multimedia systems. It judged that physically limiting hardware functions would be safe. But a recent security reinspection concluded that such measures alone cannot prevent information leaks.
If a backdoor—an unapproved access point—lurks deep within the software and firmware that serve as the vehicle's brain, the control software could forcibly activate the microphone even if the hardware is turned off. It is also possible to collect indirect information through other sensors.
Location data alone has little value as a state secret. But when location data collected from hundreds of military vehicles is combined with passenger conversations and smartphone connection logs and accumulates as big data, the situation changes. Combined with base entry records, movement patterns of key personnel, and private conversations, state secrets could be reconstructed.
With this in mind, the United States, beginning with the previous Biden administration, has been moving to significantly tighten regulations on connected vehicles such as EVs. In particular, it is effectively moving to ban the sale in the U.S. of vehicles equipped with Chinese-made software or hardware. The understanding has solidified that cars are more than a means of transport; they are mobile security nodes and data collection tools.
China has flatly denied all suspicions about its EVs. A Spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the U.K., responding to the British Ministry of National Defense's measure, told local media it was "groundless rumor and paranoia," adding, "We firmly oppose the political manipulation of normal economic and trade cooperation or slander against Chinese corporations." The claim is that while technical flaws or security vulnerabilities may exist, there has been no state-level spying.