In the past two years, my country’s new energy vehicle production and sales have grown rapidly. As the density of charging piles in cities continues to increase, charging electric vehicles in urban areas has become very convenient. However, traveling long distances still makes many car owners anxious about replenishing energy. Recently, the “Action Plan to Accelerate the Construction of Charging Infrastructure Along the Highways” jointly issued by the Ministry of Transport, the National Energy Administration, the State Grid Co., Ltd., and the China Southern Power Grid Co., Ltd. pointed out that by the end of 2022, the country will strive to eliminate high-cold and high-altitude charging infrastructure. Expressway service areas in areas outside the country can provide basic charging services; before the end of 2023, qualified general national and provincial trunk highway service areas (stations) can provide basic charging services.
Data previously released by the Ministry of Transport shows that as of April this year, 13,374 charging piles have been built in 3,102 of my country’s 6,618 highway service areas. According to data released by the China Charging Alliance, as of July this year, the number of public charging piles in my country has reached 1.575 million. However, the total number of charging piles is still far from enough compared to the current number of new energy vehicles.
As of June this year, the cumulative number of charging infrastructure nationwide was 3.918 million units. During the same period, the number of new energy vehicles in my country exceeded 10 million. That is, the ratio of charging piles to vehicles is about 1:3. According to international requirements, to completely solve the problem of inconvenient charging of new energy vehicles, the vehicle-to-pile ratio should reach 1:1. It can be seen that compared with actual demand, the current popularization of charging piles still needs to be accelerated. Relevant research even points out that by 2030, the number of new energy vehicles in China will reach 64.2 million. If the construction target of a vehicle-to-pile ratio of 1:1 is followed, there will still be a gap of about 63 million in the construction of charging piles in China in the next 10 years.
Of course, the larger the gap, the greater the development potential of the industry. Statistics show that the scale of the entire charging pile market will reach about 200 billion yuan. There are currently more than 240,000 charging pile-related companies in the country, of which more than 45,000 were newly registered in the first half of 2022, with an average monthly growth rate of 45.5%. It can be expected that since new energy vehicles are still in the rapid popularization stage, the activity of this market will continue to increase in the future. This can also be regarded as another emerging supporting industry spawned by the new energy automobile industry.
Charging piles are to new energy vehicles just like gas stations are to traditional fuel vehicles. Their importance is self-evident. As early as 2020, new energy vehicle charging piles were included in the scope of the country’s new infrastructure together with 5G base station construction, ultra-high voltage, intercity high-speed railways and urban rail transit, and regulations for the charging pile industry have been issued from the national to local levels. Series Support Policy. As a result, the popularity of charging piles has greatly accelerated in the past two years.
However, while the industry is developing rapidly, the existing charging pile infrastructure still has problems to varying degrees in terms of layout, operation and maintenance. For example, the installation distribution is unbalanced. Some areas may be saturated, but some areas have a small number of outlets. Moreover, private installation of charging piles is also prone to resistance from community property and other aspects. These factors have prevented the actual utilization efficiency of existing charging piles from being maximized, and have also objectively affected the experience of new energy car owners. At the same time, the insufficient penetration rate of charging piles in highway service areas has also become a prominent constraint affecting the “long-distance travel” of new energy vehicles. This relevant action plan puts forward clear requirements for the construction of highway charging piles, which is indeed very targeted.
In addition, it is necessary to have a clear understanding that the charging pile industry includes multiple links including design and R&D, production system, sales and maintenance, etc. It does not mean that once installed, it will be done once and for all. For example, the phenomenon of “bad completion” and damage to charging piles after installation has been exposed from time to time. In general, the current development of charging piles is characterized by “emphasis on construction but light on operation”. This involves a very important issue, that is, while many companies are rushing to seize this blue ocean market, the lack of relevant industry standards has led to the overall efficiency of the charging pile industry to be improved. Some representatives of the National Congress suggested that regulations on the construction and maintenance of charging stations and charging piles should be formulated as soon as possible to standardize the construction and maintenance of charging stations and charging piles. At the same time, charging pile interface standards and charging standards should be improved.
Since the entire new energy vehicle industry is still in a stage of rapid development and consumer demands are constantly increasing, the charging pile industry also needs to be continuously upgraded. A typical problem is that the initial charging piles were mainly for “slow charging”, but with the rapid increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, society’s demand for “fast charging” is growing. Ideally, charging new energy vehicles should be as convenient as refueling fuel vehicles. In this regard, on the one hand, enterprises are required to speed up technology research and development and increase the popularity of “fast charging” charging piles; on the other hand, supporting power supply is also required to keep pace with the times. In other words, in the face of the current rapidly rising charging demand for new energy vehicles, in the process of popularizing charging piles, we must not only ensure speed, but also cannot ignore quality. Otherwise, it will not only affect the actual service capabilities, but also likely cause a waste of resources. Especially because of the existence of various supports and subsidies, it is necessary to prevent the phenomenon of disorderly development where speculation is prevalent and speculation is prevalent. There are actually lessons learned from this in many industries, and we must be vigilant.
The higher the popularity of charging piles as supporting infrastructure, the more conducive it is to the development of the new energy vehicle industry. To a certain extent, when charging piles become ubiquitous, it will not only alleviate the anxiety of existing new energy vehicle owners about recharging energy, but also help increase the confidence of the whole society in new energy vehicles, because it will bring more It can provide a sense of “security” and thus play an “advertising” role. Therefore, many places have made it clear that the construction of charging piles should be appropriately advanced. It should be said that judging from the current development plan and realistic development momentum, the charging pile industry is indeed ushering in a spring. But in this process, how to grasp the relationship between speed and quality still deserves attention.
Susie
Sichuan Green Science & Technology Ltd., Co.
0086 19302815938
Post time: Dec-19-2023
