Connected Vehicle Security Act

This appears more like political theater to raise awareness of the risks.

It may not even be true, but Ms. Slotkin and Senator Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, have supported the bipartisan Connected Vehicle Security Act, which bans Chinese vehicles, software, and hardware from the US market.

And of course, many of her constituents would be affected by those Chinese cars coming in.

Now, what about charging publicly and it going on your home bill, or even just showing up as you, effectively roaming EV charging? Now, I do something similar with Octopus because Octopus, uh, Electroverse, if I use that app, it-- when I charge publicly, it puts it on my home electricity bill, which is very convenient because then it's just one bill for energy and transport.

You know, I mean, it'd be great to have more manufacturing here, but it's also in direct opposition to what Congress seems to be pushing for right now.

Senator Alyssa Slotkin from Michigan and Bernie Moreno from Ohio are sponsoring a bill in the Senate right now called the Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026.

Which got unanimously passed out of Commerce Committee recently and is going to the full Senate.

And basically what it most of what it does is codify into law.

Now the membership also includes suppliers, battery makers, semiconductor companies, technology businesses, and autonomous vehicle developers, extending the proposal's industry support well beyond those big three of Ford, GM, and what we now know as Stellantis, previously known as Chrysler.

So it's a backing that's proposed laws including the Connected Vehicle Security Act which could also catch established car makers that have substantial Chinese ownership.

The breadth of the requested ban covering software and components as well as complete cars would protect Detroit from formidable new competitors or potentially limiting technology and the choice for US buyers.

I think the US buyers would love to see some of these fantastic Chinese brands that are on offer that at the moment are not available.

That visit is expected to include a large CEO delegation from China.

Slotkin hasn't received her source-- hasn't revealed her source, but she's using the claim as pressure to get the Connected Vehicle Security Act, which she co-sponsored with Senator Moreno, through the full Senate before any deal is struck.

Oh my goodness.

As an aside, I, I see the irony in this because I see that path through Trump of getting Chinese vehicles in.

No one seems to want to let Chinese-built vehicles within U.S. borders.

In Congress, Senators Alyssa Slotkin and Bernie Moreno are pushing the Connected Vehicle Security Act, which would put an outright ban on importation, resale, or use of vehicles, software, and parts from companies in adversary countries including China, North Korea, Russia, or Iran.

As written, the bill would ban those vehicles and parts even if they aren't produced in those countries, but they are based there.

It would also ban vehicles and parts from any company that is more than 15% owned by entities in those countries, which includes Mercedes-Benz, which is 20% owned by BAIC, and Geely founder Li Shufu.

The study would cover foreign ownership, state-directed investment, joint ventures, technology transfers, and commercial partnerships tied to foreign adversaries.

It's a study bill rather than an immediate ban, but it runs alongside the Senate's Connected Vehicle Security Act which sets a 15% Chinese ownership cap and still awaits a full Senate vote, and signals that legislative pressure on Chinese auto industry ties is only intensifying.

And we continue to follow that story and many more here, uh, daily as part of Daily Deal Live, but also the broader Car Dealership Guy network.

That folks, is a wrap on today's Auto Industry News.

But now you're going to buy a car that somehow, if it needs work done on it, it's going to, I don't know if you have a mechanic that can do a Polestar car, but an EV car.

Okay, so under the terms of the Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026, by the way, Connected Vehicle Security Act, in my mind, I'm like, wait, what are we talking about here? The whole world is connected.

You know what I mean? But there's something about cars.

Any vehicle manufacturer that is more than 15% owned by a Chinese company would not be able to sell cars in the U.S., Chinese software would be banned next year and hardware 2030.

And the differences in how I manage and communicate with the vehicle are really astounding.

Now, getting into the meat of our conversation today, there has been a lot of attention recently on the Connected Vehicle Security Act.

Can you explain at a high level what this legislation would do if it's enacted?

Sure.

It does preserve commerce's existing authority while also adding some statutory enforcement, reporting, authorization, conformity mechanisms.

It's important to note that the office that promulgated the connected vehicle rulemaking, the Bureau of Industry and Security, or BIS for short, at Commerce, is explicitly set up to promote U.S. national security.

The Connected Vehicle Security Act really broadens this to include more economic security themes through its vehicle-connected hardware definition.

And some of your listeners might be wondering, well, what does connected hardware mean for the purposes of this bill? So while aluminum, steel, raw commodities used to assemble a purpose-built vehicle are exempt, the ownership and country of origin provisions would trigger even a dumb vehicle body being imported from a Chinese manufacturer if that body was originally intended for a connected vehicle purpose.