A senior German counterintelligence official has warned that connected Tesla vehicles could be used for espionage, urging that the US carmaker face the same security scrutiny as its Chinese rivals.

Stephan Kramer, head of the Thuringia state domestic intelligence office, told Handelsblatt in an interview published Friday that Germany should not extend the benefit of the doubt to manufacturers from allied countries.

“We should not rely on there being no spying among friends,” he said.

Cameras, location data

Kramer explained that the decisive questions are which data a car collects, where it is transmitted and who can access it. “Cameras and location systems in connected cars capture sensitive information,” he said, adding that in the case of the Bundeswehr this means military facilities, work processes and personnel.

Where a local risk analysis identifies a threat, he noted, access restrictions are “urgently advisable.”

He also called for protection of especially sensitive areas in government buildings, police and intelligence agencies, and for operators of critical infrastructure to assess the risks, while noting that a general driving ban is not needed everywhere.

Handelsblatt reported that no concrete evidence has so far emerged of cars being used for spying.

Army restricts access to military sites

The remarks follow a Defense Ministry announcement on Wednesday that the Bundeswehr restricts access by modern connected cars to sensitive military areas, Handelsblatt reported.

Vehicles of all manufacturers can be affected, including Tesla and China’s BYD. The rules are site-specific, with security officers at individual facilities able to order entry bans.

Chinese drones dropped

The military is also moving away from Chinese technology in the air. Der Spiegel reported on Tuesday that commercially available Chinese drones were banned from barracks and training grounds with immediate effect.

The ministry said a day later that the Bundeswehr will no longer use Chinese-made drones, including for target and training purposes, Reuters reported.

The ministry cited self-supply and technological sovereignty, and said decisions rest on individual risk assessments rather than blanket bans on systems from particular countries.

Concern over connected cars grows

Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) says a large share of new cars sold in Germany can record data such as location, camera, and other sensor data and transmit it to manufacturers’ servers.

Kramer told Handelsblatt in January that the espionage risk from Chinese electric cars is real, and rated it high for the Bundeswehr, police, critical infrastructure and government. He said at the time that electric cars of any origin carry spying risks.

China’s military barred Tesla cars from its own complexes in 2021 over camera data concerns, according to Bloomberg, and Elon Musk responded then that Tesla would be shut down if its cars were used for spying.

Tesla’s footprint in Germany

Tesla had 200,976 cars registered in Germany at the start of 2026, according to the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA). Its new registrations fell from 37,574 in 2024 to 19,390 in 2025, then rebounded to 47,742 in the first ten months of 2026.

Germany’s measures apply to all manufacturers, but Kramer’s call to hold Tesla to the same standard as Chinese brands extends a debate that had centered on Beijing to a company based in Washington.