Photo Shows Failed EV Business in China
The Claim
A photo shows an electric car cemetery in France. The cars are stranded because batteries are too expensive and no one wants them.
News posted on
Emerging story
This month, social media posts appeared featuring a vast field of small, white cars. The cars are in obvious disrepair in a field, and the photo is usually labeled as an “electric car cemetery” located in France. One LinkedIn user, the “Head of Department at Center of Excellence in Transportation Engineering” for an undisclosed group, claims that the cost of replacement batteries landed these cars in the graveyard.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found these claims to be entirely false. First posted in April of 2019, the original photos accompany a story of a failed Chinese business called Microcity. A site in English translates the story, explaining that after the car-share business failed, the owners of these cars now pay a landowner 30,000 yuan to park them here indefinitely. Photos show the cars before being in such a bad state of neglect, but the logo on the side can clearly be seen.
The particular photo used in the viral posts is from an Instagram account, with images taken in the same place.
