In Jiangsu’s Yancheng, a distributor of electric vehicles from the “Extreme Nucleus” brand faced a setback in sales performance and had to close their store. More than 80 cars, which had already been fully paid for by customers, were remotely locked by the manufacturer, causing severe damage to both the distributor and consumer rights. This incident has sparked intense debates regarding the boundaries of vehicle ownership and usage rights.
Wang Xianghua, a distributor in Yancheng, Jiangsu, joined Zhejiang Chunfeng Power Co., Ltd.’s “Extreme Nucleus” electric vehicle brand in August 2023. According to the contract, the manufacturer was responsible for early investments such as store renovations. However, due to insufficient brand promotion and low local market acceptance of “Extreme Nucleus,” Wang Xianghua’s store only managed to sell just over ten vehicles in a six-month period with monthly sales averaging less than four units. The continuous losses forced him to close the store prematurely in March of this year.
As per the terms of the franchise agreement, if the operation period is less than one year, the distributor must bear over 130,000 RMB in renovation costs. Wang Xianghua proposed offsetting this amount with a 50,000 RMB deposit and partial payment, but the manufacturer insisted on full compensation, leading to a stalemate in negotiations.
In May of this year, the Extreme Nucleus manufacturer utilized technical means to remotely lock more than 80 fully paid electric vehicles in Wang Xianghua’s warehouse. Although these vehicles, valued at over 300,000 RMB in total, retained basic riding functionality, their core intelligent features such as GPS positioning and IoT connectivity were disabled. This caused a sharp decline in consumer acceptance, halting all sales activities.
“The selling point of high-end electric vehicles lies in their intelligent features. Features like GPS navigation and IoT services are the core values. After the manufacturer remotely locked the vehicles, they were essentially downgraded, naturally resulting in consumer reluctance to make a purchase,” Wang Xianghua stated. What’s more infuriating is that the locking occurred during the official “trade-in for new” subsidy policy implementation period, completely missing the opportunity for clearance sales.
Chunfeng Power Co., Ltd. was established in 2020 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, specializing in electric motorcycles. The “Extreme Nucleus” brand was introduced in 2020.
In response to public skepticism, the Extreme Nucleus official statement on June 3rd denied the allegations of “remote locking.” The manufacturer claimed that in August 2024, an authorized cooperation relationship was formally established between the Extreme Nucleus brand and Yancheng Xinding New Energy Co., Ltd., founded by Wang Xianghua. In March 2025, without informing Extreme Nucleus, Xinding New Energy unilaterally dismantled the Extreme Nucleus brand image store and converted it into another brand’s store, constituting a breach of contract, leading to the suspension of the distributor’s access to the DMS system (Dealer Management System) as per company regulations.
However, this technical explanation did not quell the controversy. Wang Xianghua told “Economic Observer” that the closure of the DMS system directly prevented the activation of intelligent features for vehicle purchases, with the practical effect being equivalent to “vehicle locking” behavior.
This event has attracted widespread attention and discussion. Shanghai Guangming (Nanjing) Law Firm lawyer Li Jiatong suggested to Li Zhi News that since Wang Xianghua had paid in full for the vehicles, the more than eighty electric vehicles are his legitimate private property. The manufacturer’s implementation of technical locking without a judicial process appears to violate property rights and interests, and she recommended seeking legal remedies to uphold legitimate rights.
This incident has exposed potential risks in the application of intelligent technology in the electric vehicle industry: manufacturers can manipulate vehicle functions in commercial disputes through backend control, seriously affecting the interests of distributors and consumers.
Similar to the Extreme Nucleus case, BYD has also faced controversies due to remote control issues. Mr. Lin previously reported to The Paper that he purchased a 2021 BYD Tang DMI honor hybrid model (with a constant-pressure fuel tank system) in early 2023. In June 2023, Mr. Lin noticed abnormalities in the vehicle when operating in pure electric (EV) mode: the engine would start automatically without warning and the system would not switch to hybrid electric (HEV) mode as displayed.
After Mr. Lin raised the issue with BYD’s customer service, the manufacturer responded that the engine’s behavior was for maintenance purposes and shifted responsibility for technical adjustments to the 4S dealership. The dealership, however, stated they had no authority to modify backend procedures set by the manufacturer.
Mr. Lin calculated that each abnormal engine start consumed around 0.3 liters of fuel, totaling a full tank in a little over a year. This not only increased operating costs but also posed potential safety risks. He speculated that BYD, to address issues with the activated carbon canister in the constant-pressure fuel tank, remotely upgraded the programming logic through over-the-air updates without informing the vehicle owners, causing the engine to start automatically in EV mode to clean the canister system. Mr. Lin demanded BYD to disclose the engine start logic algorithm, compensate for additional fuel consumption losses, and recall the vehicles to replace with high-pressure fuel tank systems, yet the manufacturer has not provided a clear response thus far.
Regarding this event, “Jiang Feng’s Moment” host Jiang Feng expressed deeper concerns. He believes that by comprehensively controlling vehicle operation through onboard software systems, automobile manufacturers are essentially taking control away from vehicle owners, a trend that warrants high vigilance.
Jiang Feng’s analysis suggests, “The Chinese government previously limited Tesla’s intelligent electric vehicles’ entry into sensitive areas, fearing they could become data collection tools. Now, BYD’s widespread use of remote control technology to maintain cost advantages raises concerns about potential risks, which require deep consideration.”