Chuanguan News Reporter Zhao Zhangdong Juyi Tang Zewen
"National Day holiday to Luzhou, deliberately choose to take the Rongzun Expressway, is because there are charging piles in the 3 service areas on the way, I did not expect that each service area charging pile is queuing." There is no way, only in the last Fushun service area for a long time to charge. Recalling the difficult queue and charging encounter of the holiday outing, Che Zhanlin still feels "upset".
In recent years, under the vigorous promotion of national policies, the new energy automobile industry has developed rapidly. According to data released by the China Charging Alliance, as of September this year, the cumulative number of charging infrastructure in the country was 2.223 million units, an increase of 56.8% year-on-year. Although the increase is not low, under the rapid growth of new energy vehicle ownership, the contradiction between the vehicle pile ratio has further intensified this year, and the "charging difficulty" in the high-speed service area of the National Day holiday is a projection.
How many new energy vehicles are there in Sichuan? Are there enough charging piles? Is the problem of charging difficulty prominent? As the design, production and sales party of new energy vehicle products, what kind of thinking and exploration do major new energy automobile manufacturers have? What layouts will Sichuan unfold in the future?
20 square kilometers of only one / seat charging and replacing facilities
The contradiction between the gaps in Sichuan Province is prominent
This year's National Day holiday, the owner Xu Yizhen also encountered the dilemma of needing to get off the highway to charge in the middle, "I went from Chengdu to Xichang, and there are 4 service areas with fast charging piles. Among them, the distance between Pujiang river and asbestos service area is relatively far, reaching more than 160 kilometers. There are also charging piles in the Xingjing service area passing through the middle, but for slow charging piles, it takes 8 to 10 hours to fully charge. The same contradiction is also very prominent in the Yurong Expressway, the reporter navigated the Chengdu to Chongqing line through the mobile phone map, showing that on the Yurong Expressway, only one point in the Weilong service area has a charging pile, and in different times the refresh shows that 4 charging piles have no vacancies.
What is the construction of charging piles in Sichuan? Is there a contradiction of "more cars and fewer piles"?
As of September 30, the province had 211,700 electric vehicles. According to State Grid data, as of October 8, there were 62,600 charging facilities in the province, and the vehicle-to-pile ratio was 3.38:1. In terms of expressways, by the end of 2020, a total of 80 charging pile facilities have been built on highways in our province, with a coverage rate of 30%. "At present, there are less than 400 substations and less than 35,000 charging piles in Sichuan Province. However, Sichuan Province has 180,000 new energy vehicles, and the gap contradiction is more prominent. Zhang Hong, secretary general of the New Energy Vehicle Branch of the China Automobile Circulation Association, pointed out that at present, the top ten provinces where charging and replacing facilities are more popular in the country are concentrated in the southeast coastal areas, of which Jiangsu has an average of one /seat charging and replacement facilities for every 1.5 square kilometers, and Shanghai has one/seat charging and replacement facilities for every 0.7 square kilometers. In Sichuan Province, except for Ganzi Prefecture, there is only one /seat charging and replacing facility for every 20 square kilometers.
"Sichuan is a province with a large population, with an annual automobile production and sales of about 1.2 million vehicles, a car ownership of 9.7 million vehicles, and a private passenger car ownership of 4.13 million, and the indicators of the automobile industry are better than the national average, which can compete with the southeast coastal provinces." Zhang Hong believes that Sichuan Province will certainly make major breakthroughs in the planning and layout of the construction of charging and replacing facilities, and stand at the leading level in the country.
According to the plan, Sichuan strives to achieve a charging pile coverage rate of more than 80% in the province's highway service area by the end of 2024. But from the data point of view, the construction progress is not fast. For example, Yunnan has achieved full coverage of expressways. From the perspective of the vehicle-to-pile ratio, Sichuan is basically the same as the national level.
Technology + centralized travel
Unbalanced supply and demand lead to "difficulty" in charging
"The national day self-driving travel new energy vehicles have soared, and the concentrated outbreak of charging demand has led to an imbalance between supply and demand. For example, during the big holiday, queuing up for refueling in the service area of the highway is also often happening, and charging new energy vehicles such as queuing is the same concept as queuing to refuel. Fan Yongjun, secretary general of the Chengdu New Energy Vehicle Application Promotion Association, believes that "it is normal for social public charging facilities to face great pressure, which also shows from another level that long-distance travel of new energy vehicles is being recognized and accepted by more and more consumers." ”
In addition to the national day holiday concentrated travel, the existence of different paths in charging technology of major car brands is also one of the reasons why the charging time of new energy vehicles is also one of the reasons. "At present, the public fast charging facilities of the expressway are basically 60kw and 120kw, and the charging speed is relatively slow, coupled with the safety protection of different new energy vehicle brands for their own battery packs, which also makes the charging time of bicycles longer." The relevant person in charge of WM Automobile analyzed, "With the development of charging piles and new energy vehicle technology, 200kw or even 300kw fast charging piles will appear, in order to adapt to different brands of new energy vehicles, a multi-purpose pile will also appear." ”
To solve these problems, the industry insiders interviewed by the reporter suggested that from improving the battery energy density, improving the charging speed, updating the charging equipment, and then to the optimization of the layout of the charging pile, it is necessary for the upstream and downstream enterprises in the industry to work together to continuously provide more long-distance travel route solutions, and improve the rationality of the layout while increasing the number of charging piles.
Self-built + third party
New energy vehicle companies layout charging piles in this way
On October 12, the Passenger Car Market Information Joint Committee released a report pointing out that the new energy retail sales reached 334,000 units in September, an increase of 33.2% month-on-month and 202% year-on-year. At the same time, the market penetration rate of new energy vehicles from January to September has reached 13%, which is quite a significant increase from 5.8% in September 2020.
Does the layout of charging piles of new energy vehicle companies match the growth rate of sales?
"As of now, Tesla has built more than 900 superchargering stations and more than 7,000 superchargering piles nationwide, covering 330 cities." Jiang Dan, head of external affairs of Tesla's West District, introduced, "Tesla has set up 54 superchargering stations and more than 360 superchargering piles in Sichuan Province alone, and is equipped with 64 destination charging stations and more than 150 destination charging piles, covering 18 cities." ”
At the end of 2020, Tesla's world's largest supercharger station - Shanghai Jing'an International Center Supercharger Station with 72 piles was officially launched (photo provided by Tesla)
Tesla's layout in charging piles is earlier, creating a charging solution that is "mainly based on home charging piles and super charging piles, supplemented by destination charging piles, supplemented by third-party charging piles and universal mobile chargers", dividing charging needs in multiple scenarios, and charging networks have covered shopping malls, office buildings, hotels, tourist areas and other places.
As of October 10, NIO has operated 26 substations, 8 overcharge stations, more than 50 destination charging stations, more than 17,000 third-party charging piles, and convenient one-click power-up services throughout the Sichuan region.
"Sichuan is a popular self-driving destination in China. Based on this, WEILAI has laid destination charging stations on a number of self-driving tour routes, not only to meet the needs of weekend short-distance travel from Chengdu to Emeishan, Qingcheng Mountain - Dujiangyan and other suburban charging lines, but also 318 Sichuan-Tibet Fast Charging Line, Sichuan-Tibet Qiang Charging Ring Line and other popular lines. Ma Lin, senior director of corporate communications at Weilai, revealed, "In the near future, the charging and replacing resources of the Chengdu-Lugu Lake line will also be fully integrated." It is expected that by the end of this year, sichuan will also operate more than 20 new substations, several supercharge stations and destination charging stations, further upgrading the charging and replacing layout of the whole Sichuan. Among them, there will be several important stations located in high-speed service areas and intercity areas, and it will be more convenient for users to travel out of and into Sichuan. ”
On August 30, GAC Aeon officially released the super-speed battery technology and the A480 supercharge pile with the highest charging power in the world that can achieve "charging for 5 minutes and ending 200 kilometers" (photo provided by GAC Aeon)
At present, Xiaopeng Automobile has opened more than 50 free charging service stations in Chengdu, Mianyang, Leshan, Deyang, Neijiang and other places, including more than 20 Xiaopeng super charging self-operated stations. Charging stations in other cities (prefectures) in Sichuan are also under construction, and are expected to be completed and put into use by the end of this year, and charging stations will be built in all prefecture-level cities in Sichuan in the future.
Staggered peak + planned route
Expert support to avoid charging "traffic jam"
During the visit to Chengdu City, the reporter found that the charging pile parking space often appeared in the situation of "supporting the dead and starving to death", and the use of charging piles was uneven in heat and cold.
"At present, the national vehicle-to-pile ratio is about 1:3. However, most of the charging pile operators are currently in a state of loss, the main reason is that the utilization rate of the charging pile is very low, the location of the charging pile is often not very good, and the owners of good parking spaces are not willing to rent to the operator of the charging pile. Zhang Xiang, a researcher at the Automobile Industry Innovation Research Center of North China University of Technology, pointed out, "In addition, there are other factors, such as traditional fuel vehicles occupying parking spaces, and sometimes car owners come and see no position, which is the reason for the low utilization rate of charging piles." ”
"It is recommended that users make appropriate planning in long-distance travel. If there is a queue in the charging facilities of the highway network, then the user can reasonably plan the charging pile charging in the cities along the way. Fan Yongjun gave such advice to users.
"We should find ways to apply big data technology to dynamic scheduling and divert vehicles to other charging piles outside the highway, urban areas or surrounding areas to charge." Zhang Xiang believes that "the mileage of new energy vehicles is getting longer and longer, and they can support the charging destination." ”
In addition, the iterative upgrading of charging technology is also one of the solutions. WM Motor, developed in Chengdu, has been able to charge the battery pack from 30% to 80% in 40 minutes, with a range of 520 kilometers. Gac Aeon has built an industry-leading high-voltage platform and the world's highest charging rate A480 supercharge pile, with a maximum working voltage of 880V and a maximum charging power of 480KW, achieving "charging for 5 minutes and endurance of 200 kilometers".
Sichuan will focus on the layout of highways and scenic spots
The problem of the number of charging piles will also be improved in the future. The "Sichuan Province"14th Five-Year Plan for New Infrastructure Construction proposes that by 2025, the number of charging piles for new energy vehicles will reach 250,000.
"In this process, the one-sided pursuit of vehicle pile ratio is not scientific, we also have to consider the efficiency and quality of charging." The relevant person in charge of the Provincial Energy Bureau said that it is more reasonable to combine the number and power issues. "Assuming that the charging piles are all slow charging piles, no matter how many public area layouts cannot solve the problem of emergency charging, many times they will be idle and become 'zombie piles'."
The relevant person in charge of the State Grid Sichuan Company's Zhidian Department also agreed with this statement. He introduced that the efficiency of Sichuan charging has been improving in recent years. During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, the cumulative electricity consumption of charging facilities in the whole society reached 1.076 billion kWh. Among them, the total charging capacity of the whole society in 2020 will reach 630 million kWh, which is 39 times that of 2015. "New energy vehicles are the 'main focus' of them."
The stone of his mountain can be borrowed. Not long ago, the V2G electric vehicle charging pile of the State Grid Zhejiang Haining Power Supply Company was built in the Jianshan New Area of Haining City. Each set of equipment can provide charging services for 10 electric vehicles at the same time, and dynamically adjust the charging gun and charging pile according to the data to complete the allocation of idle power. At the 2021 World New Energy Vehicle Conference held earlier, the technology of accessing the charging network to meet the power supply needs of different types of vehicles, and participating in the interaction of electric energy such as peak shaving and valley filling, peak shaving and frequency regulation of the power grid has also become a new exploration of intelligent and efficient charging in the industry.
How will charging piles be built in the future? According to the relevant person in charge of the State Grid Sichuan Company's Zhidian Division, downward extension is the key. "Sichuan will gradually achieve comprehensive coverage of the charging network 'province-city-county', enhance the travel confidence of new energy vehicle owners, and meet their tourism needs."
The relevant person in charge of the Provincial Energy Bureau also said that public areas such as highways and scenic spots will also become the focus of the next step of charging pile layout. "The line of Chengdu and Chongqing will take the lead in promoting."
Who built the charging pile? According to the person in charge, at present, the province has introduced a special subsidy method for the construction of charging piles to encourage charging operators in the whole society to build. "With the advancement of charging technology and the participation of more capital, the market-oriented operation mode will make the construction of charging piles more balanced and healthier." In the future, the travel of electric vehicles will also be more confident. ”