Lawmakers Call for Federal Probes Into Chinese EV Charging Startup

Autel Energy products have the ‘capacity to access and collect significant sensitive consumer data,’ the lawmakers say.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) at the CPAC convention in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 28, 2019. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

Two Republican lawmakers are calling on the Pentagon and the Commerce Department to investigate a Chinese electric vehicle (EV) charging startup, citing national security concerns over the company’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In a letter dated May 19, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) asked Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to investigate Autel Energy and its connections to its China-based parent company, Autel Intelligent Transportation Corp, and the CCP.