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.

Blackburn is a member of the Senate Finance and Senate Judiciary committees. Moolenaar is the chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

If appropriate based on their investigations, the lawmakers recommend that the Commerce Department add Autel Energy to its “Entity List” of companies deemed a national security concern and that the Pentagon include it on its list of companies with ties to the Chinese military.

Lawmakers warned that using Autel Energy’s products could be risky, given their “capacity to access and collect significant sensitive consumer data” and connection to U.S. critical electrical infrastructure.

“Autel Energy styles itself as Autel Intelligent Technology Corp. on its website but has otherwise taken steps to hide the company’s ties to its Chinese controlled parent corporation through new investments in the U.S., where affiliation with a strategic ally of the PRC is deliberately deemphasized,” the lawmakers wrote.

The lawmakers pointed out that Autel Intelligent Technology is listed on China’s National Defense and Military Industry Hybrid Securities Investment Funds.

Autel Robotics, which the lawmakers described as having “traditional roots as a subsidiary” of Autel Intelligent Technology, has been named by the Pentagon as one of “Chinese military companies” operating in the United States.

In June 2024, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added Autel Robotics to its export control list, accusing it of shipping “controlled items to Russia since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 as well as acquiring and attempting to acquire U.S.-origin items applicable to unmanned aerial vehicles to be used by Chinese military entities.”

Citing actions taken by the Pentagon and the BIS against Autel Robotics, the lawmakers said they “are concerned that Autel Energy’s products pose many of the same risks to U.S. economic and national security as those manufactured by Autel Robotics and its parent company, both of which are openly affiliated with the CCP and People’s Liberation Army.”

The lawmakers also pointed out that Autel Energy has benefited from federal EV programs, since it has recently opened a new assembly facility in the United States and claimed to produce “Build America, Buy America compliant products.”

“This follows the same playbook deployed by Autel Robotics, which previously advertised a ‘Made in USA’ drone for sale in American markets, targeted towards state and local governments, even though the drone utilized prohibited technology from ZTE and HiSilicon,” the lawmakers wrote.

Some U.S. state governments offer financial incentives to encourage the installation of EV charging stations, with models from Autel Energy qualifying for these state-backed programs.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s Charge Ready NY 2.0 program offers $3,000 per charging port, with Autel’s MaxiCharger models among those eligible for funding.

Autel’s MaxiCharger models are also eligible for incentives under California’s EV adoption and infrastructure development project called CALeVIP 2.0.

The U.S. government has banned equipment made by Chinese telecom companies Huawei and ZTE. Huawei’s subsidiary, HiSilicon, also faces restrictions in the United States.

Autel Intelligent Technology was established in 2004 and started trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2020, according to the company’s website.

In its 2023 annual report, Autel Intelligent Technology wrote that it had established a Communist Party branch and that its work centered around “party-building” and was guided by CCP leader Xi Jinping’s political doctrine.

The Epoch Times contacted Autel Energy for comment and did not receive a response by publication time.