China Accelerates Construction of Highway Charging Infrastructure

On August 25, China’s Ministry of Transport, National Energy Administration, State Grid Corporation of China and the China Southern Power Grid together issued an action plan to accelerate the construction of charging infrastructure along the domestic highway system.

The program has two goals. First, the companies will strive to provide basic charging services along expressway service areas except for high altitude and extreme cold areas before the end of this year. Second, before the end of next year, qualified ordinary national and provincial trucking highway service areas will also be able to provide basic charging services.

According to official data, as of June this year, the number of new energy vehicles in China has hit 10.01 million units. According to current national plans and forecasts, by 2025, the number of new energy vehicles in the country will exceed 25 million, and will reach 80 million vehicles by 2030.

According to the Ministry of Transport, as of January this year, over half of the 6,600 expressway service areas in China have built battery charging and replacing infrastructure, and more than 13,300 charging piles have been built and put into use.

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With the rapid development of new energy vehicles in China, the problems such as insufficient charging infrastructure and insufficient coverage on expressways are still prominent. As a result, the current system is not able to meet the needs of long-distance electric vehicles. The scheme begins with the construction, layout, maintenance and application of new equipment of charging infrastructure to address the current situation.

In addition, the construction of charging infrastructure along the nation’s highways is a systematic project, involving the reconstruction of land, power grids, investment and layout. The Action Plan puts forward four relevant supporting policies: making good use of financial support, optimizing construction implementation procedures, strengthening supporting power grid construction and standardizing charging service charges.