China’s State Grid to rapidly extend electric vehicle charging network

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State Grid Corporation of China, a state-owned electric utility company, plans to establish an electric vehicle (EV) network of 120,000 public charging piles (individual charging points) for electric cars by 2020, throughout major regions in China.

China has the world’s largest electric vehicle industry. More than 490,000 electric vehicles were sold in the China during the first 11 months of 2017, and the sales are expected to exceed 577,000 units for the whole year, according to EV-Volumes, an electric vehicle sales database. Electric vehicles refers to vehicles that are partially or fully powered by electricity, such as battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.

As of November 2017, the US has 16,541 public electric vehicle charging stations and 45,225 individual charging outlets, according to statistics portal Statista. As of end 2016, China was the top-seller of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles globally, with a sales volume of 645,708 units, followed by Europe’s 637,552 units and the US’ 570,187 units.

“Starting 2020, electric cars are likely to go beyond being just vehicles, and become an important component of the energy system,” says Jiang Bing, chairman State Grid EV Service Company, a State Grid subsidiary.

State Grid’s network will cover Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, cities around Yangtze River Delta, and major cities in China, according to an announcement from State Grid on January 15. The company will make intercity travel smoother for electric vehicles in China, with three million charging piles connected to its intelligent-vehicle online platform, according to State Grid.

The intelligent-vehicle online platform is connected with 19 pile operators, including China Southern Power Grid, Qingdao Teld New Energy, China Potevio, Star Charge and Shenzhen Clou Electronics, with 170,000 charging piles connected and over 800,000 users, according to the announcement.

In 2017, State Grid installed charging piles in 10,000 parking spots in the old residential communities of Beijing and Shanghai.

In December last year, State Grid said it would seek market expansion in countries involved in the Belt and Road initiative, noting that the power investment demand along the Belt Road will reach US$1.5 trillion in the next five years.

Source: THE ASSET