Charging pile "built by someone, no one to manage"? Is your new energy vehicle convenient for charging?

Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition

Is your new energy vehicle convenient for charging?

Workers at an auto company in Liuzhou, Guangxi, are busy on the new energy vehicle production line. Xinhua News Agency photo by Li Hanchi

Charge up to go out with confidence

On October 23, the reporter drove to a service area near The Pinggu District of Beijing, where about 10 charging piles were set up in the service area with a small area, and several new energy vehicles were charging. A car owner said: "We went to Jinhai Lake camping from Chaoyang District, a round trip of nearly 200 kilometers, and checked the charging pile here before leaving, before daring to drive a new energy vehicle out." ”

The owner's worries stem from the experience of some new energy car owners during the National Day holiday: a new energy car owner who drove back to Hunan from Guangdong, departed from Shenzhen on October 1 and traveled to the Service Area of Leiyang in Hunan Province, in order to charge the vehicle, queued for 4 hours on the highway, charged for 1 hour, and finally took a total of 16 hours to get home after the 8-hour drive.

During the National Day, many new energy vehicle owners encountered highway charging problems.

Some car owners said that they did not even dare to go to the toilet in order to queue up for charging on the highway, for fear of going to the toilet for several hours. Some car owners said that because they were afraid of running out of electricity, they did not dare to turn on the air conditioner along the way, and almost suffered from heat stroke.

Sales of new energy vehicles have grown rapidly in recent years, especially in limited cities such as Beijing, residents' acceptance of new energy vehicles is getting higher and higher, and many residents choose to drive new energy vehicles to work.

"Commuting in the city, the battery life is enough." Beijing resident Xiao Yan is a new energy vehicle owner, commuting to and from Baiziwan and Tongzhou every day, "basically driving 300 kilometers to charge once, about once a week, each time charging a night." New energy vehicles are still very convenient for commuting, and the charging cost is also lower than that of oil trucks, about 1 cent per kilometer, and the monthly charging cost is about 100 yuan, and there is no limit number. ”

However, if you run high-speed and intercity traffic, the endurance of new energy vehicles is limited, the number of public charging piles is not enough, the layout is not reasonable enough, and the charging speed is slow, which has caused a lot of trouble to car owners.

A new energy vehicle owner who traveled in the southwest region during the National Day said: "I drove more than 4,000 kilometers all the way and encountered more than a dozen charging stations in the high-speed service area, of which only 2 could replenish the actual endurance of about 350 kilometers in my meal time." Others are either the entire charging station is powered off, the network is cut off, or the fuel car occupies the position and the charging line is not long enough. "The drawbacks of slow charging are also highlighted. Fuel vehicles can be completed within 10 minutes by adding fuel once; new energy vehicles often charge more than 1 hour or even several hours.

There is also the phenomenon of arbitrary charging. "I've come across charging piles that charge not only charging but also parking. A charge takes several hours, and a fast charge takes 1 hour, the cost is too high! Xiao Yan said that generally driving 200-300 kilometers needs to be charged once, if you encounter a queue, it is not unusual to delay for an hour or two.

Charging up and then going out has become a consensus. Many new energy car owners said that even if they travel for a short distance in the suburbs, they will first fill the electricity at home, "if they can not charge outside, they will not charge outside." Daily will also check the power at any time, "although usually it is two points and one line, but it is not certain which day you need to temporarily go to other places, our unit does not have a charging pile, so I will check the power every night to prevent unexpected situations." Xiao Yan said.

The need for charging needs to keep up

Insufficient total volume, uneven distribution, and inadequate maintenance - on the one hand, there are various problems that need to be faced and optimized urgently, and on the other hand, the rapidly growing demand for new energy vehicle charging.

Data show that on October 1 this year, the charging capacity of domestic highway charging facilities reached 1.4292 million kWh, close to 4 times the usual daily charging capacity, a record high. From October 1 to 3, the total charging capacity of the State Grid charging and replacing service network increased by 59% year-on-year, of which the charging capacity of highway charging facilities increased by 56.52% year-on-year, and the daily charging capacity of urban charging facilities increased by 75.23% year-on-year.

Behind the record high charging capacity is the rapid growth of new energy vehicle ownership. As of September this year, the number of new energy vehicles in China reached 6.78 million. Since the beginning of this year, the number of newly registered new energy vehicles has reached 1.87 million, which is nearly 1.7 times that of the whole year last year.

The huge demand for electricity has put forward a test for the guarantee and supply capacity of new energy charging facilities and the ability of emergency services.

The reporter learned that in fact, relevant departments and enterprises have been working hard to improve the level of security. The total number of charging piles is increasing. As of the end of September this year, the number of charging piles in the national highway service area reached 10,836, 95 newly configured charging pile service areas, and 2,318 charging pile service areas. According to data from the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance, as of the end of September this year, the number of domestic charging infrastructure was 2.223 million units, and the vehicle-to-pile ratio was about 3.05:1.

As an important supplement to the charging mode, the replacement power station is also under construction. "The power exchange mode is one of the ways of energy supply for new energy vehicles, and it can well solve the problem of slow charging difficulties in the field of public operation and some private users." Wang Yao, assistant secretary general and director of the technical department of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, told this reporter that as of the end of September this year, a total of 890 substations had been built nationwide, which was a powerful supplement to the charging and replacement infrastructure, and to a certain extent alleviated the current charging problems of new energy vehicles.

Wang Yao said that although the domestic charging infrastructure industry has made certain achievements, it should be fully recognized that the industry is still facing problems such as unreasonable layout of charging and replacement facilities, difficulty in promoting charging facilities in residential areas, and insufficient construction of guarantee charging and replacement facilities.

On the one hand, public charging stations are uneven in heat and cold, some hot spots are lined up for charging, charging piles in some areas are idle for a long time, and there are no piles to charge in some areas. On the other hand, the construction of private charging piles is facing problems such as property non-cooperation, and it is impossible to achieve fixed parking spaces to build piles; most of the newly built communities have not strictly implemented the national 100% allocation or reserved charging pile installation conditions. At the same time, the construction of charging piles in high-speed service areas, scenic spots and other areas is difficult to promote, the construction operation and maintenance costs are high, and the willingness of operators to invest is insufficient.

Increase the number, optimize the layout

New energy vehicles are difficult to charge, do not dare to run far, how to solve?

In May this year, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration publicly solicited opinions on the Implementation Opinions on Further Improving the Service Guarantee Capacity of Charging and Replacing Infrastructure. It is reported that the "Opinions" will be studied and issued within the year, from strengthening the planning layout, mobile residential community charging pile installation, strengthening equipment operation and maintenance, improving power supply guarantee and other aspects to promote the improvement of charging service guarantee capabilities.

Wang Yao believes that to promote the orderly development of public charging, in addition to continuing to increase the number of charging piles, it is also necessary to do a good job in rational planning of spatial layout.

Improve the ability to guarantee public charging services. Further optimize the layout of the public charging and replacing network in the central urban area, and encourage charging operation enterprises to gradually increase the proportion of fast charging piles through new construction, reconstruction, expansion, migration, etc. Accelerate the effective coverage of the highway fast charging network to avoid the phenomenon of uneven heating and cold. According to the planning of the Ministry of Transport, by 2025, the fast charging coverage rate of highways across the country will reach 80%. At the same time, combined with the activities of new energy vehicles going to the countryside, accelerate the layout of township charging and replacement facilities, and promote the construction of township charging and replacement facilities.

In addition to the construction of charging piles in public areas, it is also necessary to accelerate the construction and installation of charging facilities in residential communities, so that residents can charge electricity at the doorstep of their homes. This requires the joint efforts of many parties.

Wang Yao suggested that relevant departments jointly formulate charging infrastructure construction and operation specifications, clarify the main responsibilities of real estate administrative departments, streets, communities, neighborhood committees, as well as civil air defense, greening and other government departments, and establish a "residential charging grid" responsibility mechanism and a departmental joint consultation mechanism to achieve multi-party coordinated advancement.

For enterprises, we should explore new charging models by strengthening technological innovation. Many experts suggested that we should strengthen the innovation of power battery technology, further improve the cruising range, and adapt to the needs of intercity travel.

How to solve the problem of "someone building, no one managing"?

The later maintenance of charging and replacing equipment is equally important. At present, China's charging and swapping industry is still in the early stage of development, and the uneven distribution of new energy vehicles will inevitably cause the utilization rate of some charging facilities to be low, and it is impossible to maintain normal operation, and some "zombie piles" have appeared in the market. Wang Yao said that charging operation enterprises should improve the operation and maintenance system of charging and replacing equipment, and improve the availability of equipment and fault handling capabilities through intelligent and digital means. At the same time, strengthen publicity and guidance, encourage parking and charging operation enterprises to innovate technology and management measures, guide the zoning of oil trucks and new energy vehicles, and maintain a good charging order.

Xu Peiyu