At the Brussels Heysel, the Chinese manufacturer Yutong was one of the major attractions at the biennial Busworld fair – the largest event for the bus sector in the world – at the beginning of October. Yutong is the largest bus manufacturer in China and is also rapidly advancing in Europe with its electric buses, including in Denmark and Norway.
But an extensive test by the Norwegian public transport company Ruter recently showed that the advance also entails possible safety risks. Ruter discovered that Yutong’s electric buses can be stopped remotely with a software update. “The tests revealed risks against which we are now taking measures,” said a statement on the transport company’s website. “National and local authorities have been informed and should assist with additional measures at national level.”
Ruter subjected electric buses to extensive tests: a bus from the Dutch manufacturer VDL and a bus from the Chinese Yutong. While the VDL bus “has no option for autonomous software updates over the airThe Yutong bus does have that, it sounds. “The manufacturer has direct digital access to each individual bus for software updates and diagnostics.”
For example, there is “access to the operating system for the battery and power supply via a mobile network using a SIM card,” it says. “In theory, the bus can be stopped or made unusable by the manufacturer in this way.” Ruter is confident that with the necessary adjustments (which are “now being implemented”), the buses will be less vulnerable to “possible malicious attacks,” says researcher Arild Tjomsland, who was involved in the tests, at the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.
Also in Belgium
But that cannot prevent the news from causing quite a stir in Norway, where 850 Yutong electric buses are now in operation. There is also concern in the Netherlands. Keolis Netherlands, which will operate Yutong buses in Utrecht from December, says Financial Daily that the buses will not be able to be updated remotely.
Yutong buses are also already operating in our country, including with a subcontractor of De Lijn. The Federation of Belgian Bus and Coach Entrepreneurs (FBAA) says otherwise The Standard that there are currently ten Yutong buses operating in our country for private companies. De Lijn indicates that it will look into the matter.
Yutong says opposite The Guardian that it complies with the laws and regulations of countries where its buses operate. The vehicle data, which is stored on Amazon servers in Frankfurt, is only used for maintenance and improvements, and never without the consent of customers, it continues.