Thousands of imported vehicles, many of them electric cars made in China, are clogging up European ports. Along with falling sales at Tesla and BYD, the world’s two biggest sellers of battery-powered vehicles, it is a sign of trouble for the crucial shift towards green transport in the 21st century.
It was not supposed to be like this. Elon Musk made Tesla the world’s most valuable carmaker and one of the “magnificent seven” US tech groups by outflanking incumbents in luxury EVs. BYD is among the companies that transformed the Chinese market by making low-priced EVs with official backing, and are now expanding overseas.
But strains are emerging as governments and carmakers try to convert the market to EVs and to phase out internal combustion engines by the 2030s. Many car buyers are now balking at the prices of EVs compared with hybrids and petrol or diesel cars — particularly amid the rising the cost of living in recent years.