Electric cars are piling up, turning European ports into parking lots
According to foreign media reports, due to the relatively low sales of electric vehicles, there is a serious backlog of electric vehicles in European ports. Manufacturers and distributors are grappling with sluggish sales, with a growing number of imported electric vehicles, some of them from China, stuck at European ports.
The port of Antwerp Zeebrugge in Belgium is said to have a large number of electric vehicles. According to the port, it is not only Chinese vehicles, but also cars from other exporting countries.
Giant parking lots in Kalou and Zeebrugge, near Antwerp, that can accommodate 130,000 new shipments of vehicles, are being crowded with Chinese cars, including MG, BYD, NIO, Xiaopeng, Link & Co, Chery, Red Flag and others.
Chinese electric car makers are benefiting from trends in the European market, including subsidies in some countries aimed at encouraging buyers to choose electric vehicles.
The Association of European Vehicle Logistics (ECG) said that while Europe is trying to support its own car manufacturing industry, Chinese car exports to the continent are still increasing, reaching 1.3 million units in the first quarter of this year. That's a 33 percent increase over the same period last year, with the vast majority of that coming from electric vehicles.
In February, Belgium became the top destination for Chinese car exports in Europe. There are reportedly mountains of electric vehicles there, turning the port into a parking lot.
A spokesman for the port of Antwerp-Bruges, Europe's second largest port, said it was "happening in all European ports that receive large numbers of cars." Nearly 1.7 million vehicles arrived at the port last year, down from 1.95 million in 2019.
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The total number of vehicles coming from China at the port of Antwerp and Bruges could reach 600,000 to 1 million this year, according to forecasts by port officials.
The slowdown in European car sales is reportedly one of the main reasons why cars bound for Europe are being held up at ports.
Other factors contributing to the problem include a decline in road capacity for cars, a shortage of delivery drivers and a lack of capacity for short sea shipping within Europe, the port of Antwerp and Bruges said.
