U.S. adds BYD to list of Chinese military companies

The U.S. The Department of War (DOW) added BYD to a list of “Chinese military companies” Monday, according to a Monday press release from its office. 

BYD is one of 188 entities that the DOW determined meet the statutory requirements for inclusion, the release says. It adds that it will update the list with additional entities as appropriate. 

The list states that BYD is directly and indirectly affiliated with China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) and is indirectly affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). It also notes that BYD resides or is affiliated with a military-civil fusion enterprise zone. 

The U.S. Department of Commerce published a final rule banning Chinese and Russian connected vehicle technology in the U.S. last year. It said the rule was a necessary step to safeguard U.S. national security and protect American’s privacy by keeping foreign adversaries from manipulating technology to access sensitive or personal information. 

Software-related prohibitions are set to start next year with hardware-related prohibitions taking effect for model year 2030 or 2029 for units without a model year. 

Last month, A bipartisan federal bill to ban Chinese vehicles and parts has been introduced by Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan).

A press release from the senators says that the Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026 defends the American auto industry against the existential threat of predatory Chinese automobiles. 

NBC News reports that Moreno and Stolkin spoke about the importance of codifying the effort into law. 

Their joint press release also notes that the bill establishes enforcement mechanisms to ensure prohibited technologies are kept out of the U.S. market. 

The bill is also in line with the BIS rule by phasing implementation with vehicle and software restrictions starting in 2027 and hardware restrictions in 2030 to give the U.S. industry time to secure domestic supply. 

In April, Ford CEO Gim Farley talked to Fox News about how Chinese vehicles could devastate the American economy. His comments followed an opinion piece by John Bozzella, CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (Auto Innovators) in Automotive News, regarding concerns about Chinese automakers. 

While the U.S. has made moves to keep Chinese vehicles out of the U.S., it hasn’t stopped the global growth of Chinese vehicles, specifically BYD. 

Inside EVs reported Thursday that BYD plans to build no fewer than 3,000 of its flash chargers across Europe by 2027. The article explains that the dual DC fast chargers deliver up to 1,500 kilowatts power. 

“BYD is still a relatively small player in the European EV charging game,” Inside EVs says. “By comparison, Tesla has over 20,000 DC fast chargers providing energy to European EV drivers, but the Superchargers are nowhere near as powerful as BYD’s newest dispensers. The latest Supercharger V4, for example, which is still quite rare, can deliver up to 500 kW, while the older V3 stalls are capped at 250 kW.”

The first BYD chargers are already installed in Germany and England, the article says. Following Europe, the automaker plans to expand to chargers in Canada.

Image

BYD display at Automechanika Frankfurt

Share This:

Related