Europe is looking to fight the flood of Chinese electric vehicles. But Europeans love them

By KELVIN CHAN
AP Business Writer

LONDON (AP) — Chinese automakers are winning over drivers as they make major inroads into Europe’s electric vehicle market. They’re challenging long-established homegrown brands in an industry that’s key to Europe’s green energy transition. The competitive threat has spurred the European Union to launch an investigation into Beijing’s support for its EV industry. That adds to tech-related tensions between the West and China. Europe is attractive for Chinese EVs because auto import tariffs are a lot lower than in the U.S. One in every five EVs sold in Europe is a Chinese import, if you include vehicles that global automakers like Tesla and BMW build in China.