How China could cripple Britain and kill thousands by hacking your electric car, locking you inside and creating deadly traffic jams. As cheap Chinese EVs flood Britain, EDWARD LUCAS raises a terrifying possibility

It’s a bitingly cold day in mid-December 2027. China is blockading Taiwan and Britain is poised to join the United States in defending the beleaguered island democracy — a move that could portend World War III.

And then comes a brutally blunt message: all the hundreds of thousands of Chinese-made electric cars on British roads are at a standstill.

Drivers frantically pressed the controls, but to no avail. They’re trying to get out. But the doors refuse to open.

Then the pile-ups begin, as other vehicles slam into the suddenly stationary cars. Traffic congestion prevents emergency services from reaching the scene of the accident and thousands of injured victims die in pain.

As time passes, people trapped in their cars become increasingly desperate, begging passersby to smash their windows to help them escape suffocation or hypothermia. Some are lucky, others are not.

Trade is also being stifled. Even if every broken-down truck in the country is mobilized, it will take weeks for our transportation system to return to normal.

The economic and human costs are enormous. Our decision-makers, and those in other countries, all too easily conclude that this is not the time for military entanglement in a faraway land.

Beijing’s bullies have just won a decisive early battle in the battle for world domination.

Just last month, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo highlighted exactly this danger. “Imagine if there were thousands or hundreds of thousands of China-linked vehicles on American roads that could be taken out immediately and simultaneously by someone in Beijing,” she said.

But why would corporate automakers risk destroying their brands by potentially allowing them to be used for sabotage? No foreign customer would ever trust a Chinese-made product again.

The answer is simple. The Chinese Communist Party has absolute control over its subjects, both at home and abroad. If it deems a cyber attack necessary for geopolitical purposes, then that attack will take place regardless of any temporary commercial costs.

There should be no doubt about the danger China poses. The government’s flagship Integrated Review of our national security calls it a ‘game-changing challenge to the international order’ and MPs were briefed last month on a new wave of interference aimed at undermining our democracy.

It was only this week that the scale of China’s ambitions became clear when images emerged of specialized trains capable of transporting electric vehicles across the Eurasian landmass. Unlike the old, slow mode of sea transport, rail vehicles can reach Europe in just twenty days.

We have already taken action to counter some of the dangers posed by this tsunami of Chinese technology. For example, Huawei components were removed, albeit belatedly, from our next-generation 5G phone system.

But we have been naive, greedy and complacent when it comes to other threats.

What we don’t understand is that China’s ruthless data collection in the West provides Beijing with the raw materials to understand, penetrate and control foreign countries.

Artificial intelligence software running on the world’s most powerful computers sifts through and scans every particle of information, looking for patterns and anomalies that can be exploited.

The biggest new vulnerability concerns the so-called ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT). This is the interconnection of all kinds of equipment, from thermostats, smart meters, doorbells and household audio devices to video equipment and lighting systems in industry, commerce and public services.

The heart of the IoT is formed by the small ‘modules’ that connect the equipment to the internet. Chillingly, China supplies more than three-fifths of these cheap and ubiquitous data transfer gadgets. They are remote controlled by nature and can be updated by the manufacturer if necessary. They also run software that is rarely, if ever, subject to a security review.

The gain in convenience is enormous. Who would complain that life is made cheaper and easier?

But we ignore the downside. Just one compromised device can be used to infect others, allowing a distant enemy to steal data or wreak havoc.

Electric cars add a new dimension to the threat, essentially adding mobile surveillance equipment to the picture.

The result of China’s voracious appetite for our data will be that every commercial, political, military and intelligence secret in every Western country will be potentially compromised. This includes every facet of our personal privacy, making us vulnerable to blackmail and bullying.

Following US Commerce Secretary Raimondo’s warning, Washington has launched an investigation into the security risks of ‘foreign-made’ (i.e. Chinese) vehicles connected to the Internet.

This is a welcome development, but one that comes dangerously late. Unhindered by environmental regulations and labor standards, and with the full support of their government, Chinese automakers such as BYD and Geely are on their way to dominating the global electric vehicle market.

By working on a plan that is as clever as it is ruthless, they have secured huge advantages in the global market for lithium – essential for batteries – and the rare minerals needed in the production of high-tech devices.

While their products may not have the polish and pizzazz of Western brands like Tesla, they benefit from a huge domestic market, which gives them economies of scale and an opportunity to hone their technology and expertise.

That helped China become the world’s biggest auto exporter last year, with its competitive advantage in electric vehicles set to grow further as the country builds factories abroad.

Yes, electric vehicle market share fell last month, but with Chinese electric cars costing around £9,000 less than their Western counterparts, it seems likely that companies like Tesla will bear the brunt of this downturn.

Tens of thousands of Chinese cars will be sold in Britain this year. This not only provides Beijing with economic gains, it also provides the country with a geopolitical advantage.

For modern electric cars, computers on wheels exist. To function properly, they need to be constantly connected to the Internet so that they can receive, collect and share data about their performance and environment.

This is a recipe for chaos. Hackers demonstrated years ago how easy it is to disable a single vehicle remotely. With the full weight of a state cyberwarfare agency behind it, such attacks would be far more devastating and widespread.

And sabotage is not the only threat. Like our phones and computers, computer-controlled cars provide enormous insight into our daily lives, as they collect data on everything from our location and driving habits to our music tastes, our cell phone usage and our ‘voiceprints’ (graphic representations of a person’s voice that constituent frequencies).

Last year, a Chinese-made tracking device was found in the electronics of at least one Downing Street vehicle, but there would be no need to fit a listening device in a Chinese-made car. The car is the animal.

It is no coincidence that Chinese authorities tightly control the movement of Western-made electric vehicles such as Teslas and ban them from near sensitive government and military sites. We do not impose such restrictions.

In July, MPs and colleagues on the cross-party Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) reported that China was attacking the UK ‘extensively and aggressively’, but that our government did not have the ‘resources, expertise or knowledge’ to respond.

The truth is, when it comes to Chinese EVs, our decision makers are still asleep at the wheel.