A city had a rude awakening when it tested its electric buses for security flaws.
Some cities have gone all-in on their dedication to renewable energy and electric public transportation, but discovering that a jurisdiction does not actually control its own public property likely was not part of the idea.
'In theory, the bus could therefore be stopped or rendered unusable.'
This turned out to be exactly the case when Ruter — the public transportation authority for Oslo, Norway — decided to run tests on its new Chinese electric buses.
Approximately 300 e-buses from Chinese company Yutong made their way to Norway earlier this year, with outlet China Buses calling it a "core breakthrough" in Chinese brands' global reach.
Yutong offers at least 15 different types of electric buses ranging from 60- to 120-passenger capacity.
As reported by Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten on Tuesday, Ruter conducted secret testing on some of its electric buses over the summer. It decided to look into one bus from a European manufacturer, as well as another from Yutong, to address cybersecurity risks.
The test results were shocking.
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Investigators discovered that the Chinese-built buses could be controlled remotely from their homeland, unlike the European vehicles.
Ruter reported that the Chinese can access software updates, diagnostics, and battery systems remotely, and, "In theory, the bus could therefore be stopped or rendered unusable by the manufacturer."
The details were described by Arild Tjomsland, who helped conduct the tests. Tjomsland is a special adviser at the University of South-Eastern Norway, according to Turkish website AA.
"The Chinese bus can be stopped, turned off, or receive updates that can destroy the technology that the bus needs to operate normally," Tjomsland reportedly said. He additionally noted that while the buses could not be steered remotely, they could still be shut down and used as leverage by bad actors.
Pravda Norway described the situation as the Chinese government essentially being able to decommission the buses at any time.
Norway's transport minister praised Ruter for completing the tests and said the government would initiate a risk assessment related to countries "with which Norway does not have security policy cooperation."
Ruter's CEO, Bernt Reitan Jenssen, said the company plans on working with authorities to strengthen the cybersecurity surrounding its public infrastructure.
"We need to involve all competent authorities that deal with cybersecurity, stand together, and draw on cutting-edge expertise," Jenssen said.
As a temporary fix, Ruter revealed the buses can be disconnected from the internet by removing their SIM cards to assume "local control should the need arise."
There was no word as to whether the SIM cards are upsized for buses.
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“They’re coming home — they’re all coming home.”
That’s how President Donald Trump described Apple’s decision to invest $600 billion in the American economy, $100 billion more than initially expected.
For decades, corporate America packed up and left. Under President Trump, companies are coming back.
Standing alongside Apple CEO Tim Cook, President Trump declared: “These investments will directly create more than 20,000 brand-new American jobs and many thousands more at Apple suppliers like Corning, Broadcom, Texas Instruments, and Samsung.”
This is proof that the America First agenda is working.
America First isn’t just a campaign slogan. It’s a movement rooted in economic patriotism. For decades, global corporations were incentivized to offshore jobs and close American factories, leaving once-thriving towns in economic ruin.
President Trump is reversing that damage. His America First agenda creates the conditions for companies to thrive here at home — cutting taxes, slashing red tape, rebuilding infrastructure, and putting American workers first in trade deals and policy decisions.
Apple’s investment is just the latest example. From Silicon Valley to the Rust Belt, companies are responding favorably to the president’s policies, which are rewarding their investments on U.S. soil.
In the past six months alone, more than $17 trillion in new investment, factories, and infrastructure projects have been announced. From semiconductor plants in Arizona to advanced steel manufacturing in Pennsylvania, we are witnessing the rebirth of American manufacturing.
And America First doesn’t stop at building new factories. It also means building the capacity to win strategic fights — including the tech war with China.
One example is the Trump administration’s recent decision toheed U.S. intelligence experts and greenlight the merger between Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks.
For years, national security experts have warned about Huawei, the Chinese tech giant with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Huawei’s global dominance in 5G and enterprise networking poses a serious threat to cybersecurity, national defense, and communications freedom. The problem wasn’t identifying the threat. The problem was that no U.S. company could match Huawei — that is, until now. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi are helping the U.S. finally compete in this industry.
Another example is President Trump’s executive order jump-starting America’s rare-earth and critical mineral supply chains — an industry China has dominated for years. From electric vehicles to advanced weapons systems, the modern economy runs on rare-earths. Yet for too long, America depended on Chinese exports to power everything from smartphones to fighter jets.
That is changing under President Trump, who signed an executive order cutting red tape, fast-tracking permits, and directing federal agencies to prioritize American sourcing and refining of rare-earth and critical minerals. As a result, U.S. companies are now increasingly investing in domestic mining operations in America, laying the foundation for greater American economic independence.
In June, Trump even signed an agreement with China to resume exports of U.S. rare-earth minerals. The global tide on U.S. exports is now turning.
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America First means just that: America first. Whether it’s encouraging companies such as Apple to invest here at home or ensuring that U.S. tech companies can go toe to toe with China, President Trump is delivering real results.
For decades, corporate America packed up and left. Under President Trump, companies are coming back. They’re investing in our people, our cities, and our future. That’s not just good policy. That’s what winning looks like.
The electric vehicle bubble has burst. Consumers have emphatically rejected EVs as nothing more than a niche car with limited range, minimal utility, terrible resale value, and time-consuming charging hassles.
This consumer rejection began long before President Donald Trump returned to the White House and started repealing Biden-era regulations that essentially instituted a de facto EV mandate. In addition to these critical repeals, Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act just eliminated the $7,500 per unit federal tax credit on each new EV sold in the U.S. effective September 30, 2025.
It’s long overdue for the General Motors’ board to put the EV distraction behind them. If Mary Barra won’t do it, then they need to find a CEO who will.
Other than Tesla, auto manufacturers have been hemorrhaging red ink on their EV ventures — and that was when they could pad the sale of each unit with $7,500 in federal incentives. Legacy automakers have been taking a financial bath on their EV programs. Many are starting to back away from their electric ambitions and pivot back to gasoline-powered vehicles that consumers actually want to buy, including hybrids.
For some manufacturers, however, it may be too late.
Blaze Media contributor Lauren Fix recently warned on her “Car Coach Reports” podcast that auto manufacturers might not survive the failed “EV transition.”
Yet amidst the carnage of the EV collapse, the CEO of General Motors, Mary Barra, remains unyielding in her commitment to an all-electric future. Sadly, unless GM’s board steps in soon, she may be dragging the entire company over a cliff.
It’s fair to ask at this point, “Who is Barra working for?” She clearly isn’t serving GM’s customers, dealers, or shareholders. Drivers aren’t buying EVs. Dealers can’t sell them. And the EV distraction is dragging down the stock price.
During the Biden administration, Barra pledged to completely purge the GM lineup of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. That’s a direct slap in the face to the company’s loyal customer base — especially truck buyers — who overwhelmingly prefer gas engines.
Now that Donald Trump is back in the White House, the Biden-era regulatory hammer that pushed automakers like GM toward EVs is gone. What, then, is motivating Barra to remain steadfast in her EV commitment?
As recently as late May — four months into Trump’s second term — Barra told the Wall Street Journal, “We still believe in an all-EV future. I think EVs are fundamentally better.” She added, “So I see a path to all EV. It will depend on how much we get the infrastructure ready. But I do believe we'll get there because I think the vehicles are better.”
Unfortunately, outside of their niche as a daily commuter car for those with a charger at home, EVs have barely any utility at all. They are not “better” in any respect than a multi-purpose, gasoline-powered vehicle that can drive anywhere, at any time, for any distance — without charging hassles.
Most consumers know that. GM’s dealers definitely know that.
So, how does GM still have a CEO who doesn’t?
On “Car Coach Reports,” Lauren Fix speculated that Barra’s public EV commitment may not reflect GM’s actual intentions. Maybe she’s just covering for a busted product pipeline — trying to save face while GM begins its years-long pivot toward hybrids behind the scenes. If that’s true, the best-case scenario is that the CEO is lying to shareholders and dealers — it’s a very bad look.
Whether or not Barra is being honest about her intentions for an all-EV future, GM’s website still has a “sustainability” tab which reads, “We aim to achieve an all-electric, zero emissions world while advancing an equitable and inclusive transition to our carbon-neutral future.”
It might as well read: “We’d rather drive off a cliff in the name of a net-zero future than keep building the profitable cars and trucks Americans actually want.”
Wall Street is finally taking notice — as well it should. When EV hype peaked in June 2021, GM stock was trading around $63 per share at its height. Today, it’s down 15%.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 is up 50% since June 2021. Put another way: $1,000 in GM stock back then is now worth $850. That same $1,000 in the S&P 500 would be worth $1,500. That’s a 75% gap — and GM investors are the losers.
During a recent earnings call to discuss Q2 2025 results, a Morgan Stanley analyst finally confronted Barra about the elephant in the room: “How does GM expect to be profitable with EVs when players like Tesla apparently cannot?”
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Tesla is facing stiff headwinds with a 13% drop in sales and a 16% drop in profits for Q2. Even with the tax credits still in place, Tesla’s per-unit profit is only around $3,000. But those tax credits are about to vanish with the impending elimination of the $7,500 per unit federal tax credit. Moreover, Tesla is also about to lose another revenue stream: regulatory credits, worth about $1,500 per vehicle, paid to Tesla by non-EV manufacturers to meet emissions rules.
In summary, Tesla will be losing up to $9,000 per unit in revenue sources against a profit of $3,000 per unit — an unsustainable path for a sustainable car company. If Tesla can’t make it work, what chance does GM have?
Barra had no real answer. Just vague talk about “manufacturing optimization.” She won’t admit to the writing on the wall — that General Motors has no path to profitability selling electric vehicles.
It’s long overdue for the General Motors’ board to put the EV distraction behind them. If Mary Barra won’t do it, then they need to find a CEO who will.
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