Trade tariffs imposed by Europe will need to be harsh in order to arrest the future dominance of Chinese electric vehicles (EV) in its home market, according to one industry expert.

Speaking at the China-Britain Business Council roundtable event at the Institute of Motor Industries on 14 September, Owen Edwards, head of downstream automotive consulting at Grant Thornton, said the margins Chinese manufacturers are set to achieve in the near future - driven by the plummeting cost of vertically produced EVs – will put European lawmakers under even more pressure.

The European Commission earlier this month said it was planning to investigate whether to impose punitive tariffs to protect European Union vehicle producers against cheaper Chinese EV imports, claiming their price is being kept artificially low by huge state subsidies.

The Commission will have up to 13 months during its anti-subsidy investigation to assess whether to impose tariffs above the standard 10% EU rate for cars.

As Brussels starts hunting for evidence of unfair support, Edwards said it is rather the ‘seismic downward shift’ of costs driven by advanced battery technology together with innovative production techniques and the vertical industrial structure of Chinese carmakers which is now the most significant factor at play.