There’s another Chinese electric vehicle threat: Buses

Carmakers, governments and the European Commission are increasingly worried about Chinese battery-powered cars, but there’s another looming transport threat: electric city buses.

European leaders are meeting this week with Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping, who on Friday wrapped up a visit to France, Serbia and Hungary. A fierce point of tension during the visit was the EU probe over whether Chinese EVs are being unfairly subsidized.

A fifth of the EVs sold in Europe last year were from China and green NGO Transport & environment expects that to grow to a quarter this year.

There are similar concerns about the bus sector: that China could use the scale of its domestic market — where almost all buses are electric — and its lower production costs to crush European rivals. But for now, Brussels is brushing off industry calls for it to examine Chinese bus-makers for unfair subsidies.