China’s auto industry has become the world’s dominant player when it comes to electric vehicle adoption. However, recent footage suggests otherwise.
A drone operator published an almost 10-minute YouTube video demonstrating the local brands’ alleged shady strategy to manipulate sales charts and qualify for state incentives.
Drone footage highlights
Half-Chinese drone operator and content creator Serpentza was able to film enormous grounds packed with thousands of neglected China-made EVs.
Some EVs displayed in the footage appear to be the Geely Kandi K10 EV, BYD e3, and Neta V models. They are parked in a certain Hangzhou district.
Dust layers now cover the vehicles’ white body paint, while growing grass partly shrouds their tires. However, the cabins remain remarkably new with their plastic wraps.
What’s interesting about the footage is that all EVs in the field have registration plates. That said, it is unsurprising why some speculated that Chinese electric automakers only register the units and present them as sales to manipulate figures and secure government subsidies.
One caption from YouTube reads (translated to English), “BYD inventory flooded, 600 cars waiting to be processed.”
Another YouTube vlog showed a registration form disclosing the plot’s size of the abandoned surplus inventory in Hangzhou. Apparently, the area is more than 15,000 square meters registered as a “commercial business.”
See Also:
- Tesla China sales grew 2.44% month-on-month in May 2023
- China: Plug-in car sales topped 500,000 units in April
- China: BYD posts record-breaking EV sales in May
- Tesla reported remarkable EV sales growth in March in China
- CPCA: China’s NEV retail sales in March will grow 27.5% to 560,000 from February
However, it must be noted that some of the footage included in the YouTube vlog is over two years old.
That said, the Hangzhou EV graveyard’s current state is vague. There were also no available details regarding specific government actions against the involved car companies.
