BRUSSELS, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Chinese electric vehicle

(EV) makers BYD, Geely and SAIC

have challenged the EU's import tariffs at the Court

of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), filings on the court's

website showed on Thursday.

The European Union imposed tariffs on China-made EVs at the

end of October after an anti-subsidy investigation, including

17.0% for BYD, 18.8% for Geely and 35.3% for SAIC, on top of the

EU's standard car import duty of 10%.

Court filings show all three have lodged their complaints at

the General Court, the lower of two CJEU chambers, on Tuesday, a

day before the deadline for filing challenges. Proceedings at

the General Court last on average 18 months and can be appealed.

No further details of the cases were given.

The European Commission said it was aware of the cases and

had two months and 10 days to prepare its defence.

It is not clear if there have been also challenges from

other EV makers, including European firms producing in China, or

the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery

and Electronic Products (CCCME), which has represented Chinese

EV producers.

The challenges are likely to include arguments over the

assessment of subsidies, the establishment of injury to EU

industry and the Commission's unusual decision to launch a case

on its own, rather than following an industry complaint.

SAIC is expected to take issue with its far higher tariff.

This followed a determination that it did not cooperate with the

investigation, allowing the Commission to fill in missing

sections with selected available facts.

China-based EV makers have also complained that Tesla

, the largest exporter of EVs from China into the EU,

was not included in the official sample, from which the rate for

other companies is calculated. The sampled companies were BYD,

Geely and SAIC.

Tesla secured the lowest extra tariff of 7.8%. If it had

been part of the sample, cooperating companies would have

benefited from a lower tariff than the 20.7% they now face.