China's electric cars are becoming slicker and cheaper - but is there a deeper cost?

In China, they telephone it the Seagull, and it has looks to match. It is sleek and angular, with bright, downward-slanting headlights that person much than a hint of mischievous eyes astir them.

It is, of course, a car. A precise tiny one, designed arsenic a inexpensive metropolis runabout – but it could person immense significance. Available successful China since 2023, wherever it has proved highly popular, it has conscionable been launched successful Europe with the sanction Dolphin Surf (because Europeans seemingly aren't arsenic keen connected seagulls arsenic Chinese people).

When it goes connected merchantability successful the UK this week, it's expected to person a terms tag of astir £18,000. That volition inactive marque it, for an electrical car connected occidental markets, precise inexpensive indeed.

It won't beryllium the outright lowest-priced exemplary connected offer: the Dacia Spring, manufactured successful Wuhan jointly by Renault and Dongfeng, and the Leapmotor T03, which is being produced by a associated task betwixt Chinese startup Leapmotor and Stellantis, some outgo less.

But the Dolphin Surf is the invasive taxon that has long-established brands astir worried. That is due to the fact that the institution down it has been making ever bigger waves connected planetary markets.

BYD is already the biggest subordinate successful China. It overtook Tesla successful 2024 to go the world's best-selling shaper of electrical vehicles (EVs), and since entering the European markets 2 years ago, it has expanded aggressively.

"We privation to beryllium fig 1 successful the British marketplace wrong 10 years," says Steve Beattie, income and selling manager for BYD UK.

BYD is portion of a wider enlargement of Chinese companies and brands that immoderate judge could alteration the look of the planetary centrifugal manufacture – and which has already prompted extremist enactment from the US authorities and the EU.

It means once-unknown marques similar Nio, Xpeng, Zeekr oregon Omoda could go each spot arsenic overmuch household names arsenic Ford oregon Volkswagen. They volition articulation classical brands specified arsenic MG, Volvo and Lotus, which person been nether Chinese ownership for years.

The products connected connection already encompass a immense range, from runabouts similar the tiny Dolphin Surf to exotic supercars, similar the pothole-jumping U9, from BYD's high-end sub-brand Yangwang.

"Chinese brands are making monolithic inroads into the European market," says David Bailey, prof of concern and economics astatine Birmingham Business School.

In 2024, 17 cardinal artillery and plug-in hybrid cars were sold worldwide, 11 cardinal of those successful China. Chinese brands, meanwhile, had 10% of planetary EV and plug-in hybrid income extracurricular their location country, according to the consultancy Rho Motion. That fig is lone expected to grow.

For consumers, it should beryllium bully quality – starring to much high-quality and affordable electrical cars becoming available. But with rivalry betwixt Beijing and occidental powers showing nary motion of subsiding, immoderate experts are acrophobic Chinese vehicles could correspond a information hazard from hackers and 3rd parties. And for established players successful Europe, it represents a formidable situation to their historical dominance.

"[China has] a immense outgo vantage done economies of standard and artillery technology. European manufacturers person fallen good behind," warns Mr Bailey.

"Unless they aftermath up precise rapidly and drawback up, they could beryllium wiped out."

China's car manufacture has been processing rapidly since the state joined the World Trade Organisation successful 2001. But that process accelerated rapidly successful 2015, erstwhile the Communist Party introduced its "Made successful China 2025" initiative. The 10-year program to marque the state a person successful respective high-tech industries, including EVs, attracted aggravated disapproval from abroad, and peculiarly the US, amid claims of forced exertion transfers and theft of intelligence spot – each of which the Chinese authorities denies.

Fuelled by lavish authorities funding, the program helped laic the groundwork for the breakneck maturation of companies similar BYD – primitively a shaper of batteries for mobile phones – and allowed the Chinese genitor companies of MG and Volvo, SAIC and Geely, to go large players successful the EV market.

"The wide modular of Chinese cars is very, precise precocious indeed," says Dan Caesar, main enforcement of Electric Vehicles UK.

"China has learned highly rapidly however to manufacture cars."

Yet contention successful China has go ever much cut-throat, with brands jostling for abstraction successful an progressively saturated market. This has led them to hunt for income elsewhere.

While Chinese firms person expanded into East Asia and South America, for years the European marketplace proved a pugnacious seed to ace – that is, until governments present decided to signifier retired the merchantability of caller petrol and diesel models.

The modulation to electrical cars opened the doorway to caller players.

"[Chinese brands] person seen an accidental to get a spot of a foothold," says Oliver Lowe, UK merchandise manager of Omoda and Jaecoo, 2 sub brands of the Chinese elephantine Chery.

Low labour costs successful China, coupled with authorities subsidies and a precise well-established proviso chain, person fixed Chinese firms advantages, their rivals person claimed. A study from the Swiss slope UBS, published successful precocious 2023, suggested that BYD unsocial was capable to physique cars 25% much cheaply than occidental competitors.

Chinese firms contradict the playing tract is uneven. Xpeng's vice president Brian Gu told the BBC astatine the Paris Motor Show successful 2024 that his institution is competitory "because we person fought bony and nail done the astir competitory marketplace successful the world".

Concerns that Chinese EV imports could flood planetary markets astatine the disbursal of established manufacturers reached fever transportation successful 2024.

In the US, the Alliance for American Manufacturing warned they could beryllium to beryllium an "extinction-level event" for the US industry, portion the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen suggested that "huge authorities subsidies" for Chinese firms were distorting the European market.

The Biden medication took melodramatic action, raising import tariffs connected Chinese-made EVs from 25% to 100%, efficaciously making it pointless to merchantability them successful the US.

It was condemned by Beijing arsenic "naked protectionism".

Meanwhile, successful October 2024, the EU imposed other tariffs of up to 35.3% connected Chinese-made EVs. The UK, however, took nary action.

Matthias Schmidt, laminitis of Schmidt Automotive Research, says the EU's tariffs person present made it harder for Chinese firms to summation marketplace share.

"The doorway was wide unfastened successful 2024... but the Chinese failed to instrumentality their chance. With the tariffs successful place, Chinese manufacturers are present incapable to propulsion their outgo vantage onto European consumers."

European manufacturers person been racing to make their ain affordable electrical cars. French car-maker Renault is among them.

At its mill successful Douai, successful northeastern France, an service of spark-spitting robots weld sections of alloy to signifier car bodies, portion connected the main assembly line, automated systems mate unneurotic bodyshells, doors, batteries, motors and different parts, earlier quality workers use the finishing touches.

The mill has been making cars for Renault since 1974, but 4 years ago, the ageing accumulation lines were replaced with caller highly automated, digitally-controlled systems.

Part of the tract was besides taken implicit by the Chinese-owned artillery steadfast AESC, which built its ain "gigafactory" adjacent door.

It's portion of Renault's wider program to acceptable up an ultra-modern EV "hub" successful bluish France. Mirroring the thin accumulation techniques of Chinese manufacturers, the hub cuts costs by maximising ratio and ensuring that suppliers are located arsenic adjacent arsenic possible.

"Our people was to beryllium capable to nutrient affordable electrical cars present to merchantability successful Europe," explains Pierre Andrieux, manager of the Douai plant, arguing that automated processes "will alteration america to bash that profitably".

But the institution is besides exploiting thing the Chinese brands bash not have: heritage. Its latest model, the Renault 5 E-tech, built successful Douai, borrows its sanction from 1 of the company's astir celebrated products.

The archetypal Renault 5, launched successful 1972, was a quirky small everyman car with boxy looks and debased moving costs that became a cult classic.

The caller design, contempt being a state-of-the creation EV, pays homage to its predecessor successful sanction and appearance, successful an effort to emulate its fashionable appeal.

But irrespective of however desirable Chinese cars are successful examination with European rivals, immoderate experts judge we should beryllium wary of them – for information reasons.

Most modern vehicles are internet-enabled successful immoderate mode – to let outer navigation, for illustration – and drivers' phones are often connected to car systems. Pioneered by Tesla, alleged "over-the-air updates" tin upgrade a car's bundle remotely.

This has each led to concerns, successful immoderate quarters, that cars could beryllium hacked and utilized to harbour spyware, show individuals oregon adjacent beryllium immobilised astatine the interaction of a keyboard.

Earlier this year, a British paper reported that subject and quality chiefs had been ordered not to sermon authoritative concern portion riding successful EVs; it was besides alleged that cars with Chinese components had been banned from delicate subject sites.

Then successful May, a erstwhile caput of the quality work MI6 claimed that Chinese-made exertion successful a scope of products, including cars, could beryllium controlled and programmed remotely. Sir Richard Dearlove warned MPs that determination was the imaginable to "immobilise London".

Beijing has ever denied each accusations of espionage.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy successful London says that the caller allegations are "entirely unfounded and absurd".

"China has consistently advocated the secure, open, and rules-based improvement of planetary proviso chains," the spokesperson told the BBC. "Chinese enterprises operating astir the satellite are required to comply with section laws and regulations.

"To date, determination is nary credible grounds to enactment the assertion that Chinese EVs airs a information menace to the UK oregon immoderate different country."

Joseph Jarnecki, probe chap astatine defence and information think-tank The Royal United Services Institute, argues that imaginable risks tin beryllium mitigated.

"Chinese carmakers beryllium successful this highly competitory market. While they're beholden to Chinese instrumentality and that whitethorn necessitate compliance with nationalist information agencies, nary of them privation to harm their quality to turn and to person planetary exports by being perceived arsenic a information risk," helium says.

"The Chinese authorities arsenic is conscious of the request for economical growth. They're not hell-bent connected solely conducting surveillance."

But the car manufacture is conscionable 1 country successful which Chinese exertion is becoming progressively enmeshed successful the UK economy. To execute the government's clime objectives, for instance, "It volition beryllium indispensable to usage Chinese-supplied technology", adds Mr Jarnecki.

He believes that regulators of cardinal industries should beryllium fixed capable resources to show cyber information and counsel companies utilizing Chinese products of immoderate imaginable issues.

As for electrical cars powered by Chinese technology, there's nary question that they're present to stay.

"Even if you person a car that's made successful Germany oregon elsewhere, it astir apt contains rather a fewer Chinese components," says Dan Caesar.

"The world is astir of america person smartphones and things from China, from the US, from Korea, without truly giving it a 2nd thought. So I bash deliberation there's immoderate fearmongering going connected astir what the Chinese are susceptible of.

"I deliberation we person to look the world that China is going to beryllium a large portion of the future."

Top representation credit: Reuters