Charging stations move from being sufficient to being easy to use
2024 is a year in which the national charging infrastructure will develop rapidly and the industry will continue to enrich and improve.
2024 is a year in which the national charging infrastructure will develop rapidly and the industry will continue to enrich and improve. Wang Hongzhi, director of the National Energy Administration, recently said that my country has built more than 12 million charging infrastructures, and more than 95% of highway service areas have charging capabilities. In 2025, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of electric vehicle charging infrastructure to better guarantee the charging needs of new energy vehicles.
After continuous large-scale construction, my country's charging network is becoming more and more perfect. Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Joint Conference, introduced that in recent years, my country's charging infrastructure has developed rapidly, and has built the world's largest number, the widest service scope, and the most complete variety of charging infrastructure systems. At present, the utilization rate of charging stations is calculated according to "1 public station = 3 private stations". In 2024, the ratio of pure electric vehicles to stations in my country's incremental market has reached 1:1, leading other countries in the world.
Although in terms of quantity, my country's charging stations are basically sufficient during off-peak hours, there are still problems such as shortage during peak hours, insufficient utilization of single stations, uneven equipment quality, and poor corporate profits. In order to achieve high-quality development of charging infrastructure, we must continue to increase the number of charging stations and promote the transformation of charging facilities from sufficient to good use.
Promoting the renewal of old charging stations is an important means to improve charging efficiency. At the charging station of the Jiashao Bridge Service Area of Changtai Expressway, a new charging station is running stably. "The original charging station output power of the service area is 80 kilowatts, and the single-gun output power of the newly invested charging station can reach up to 120 kilowatts." Zhu Chenkai, a charging station operator of the State Grid Jiaxing Power Supply Company, said.
It is reported that the entire highway service area charging station expansion project was put into use in September 2024, which significantly improved the efficiency and capacity of charging service supply and alleviated the charging pressure in the service area. Since 2024, Jiaxing City has used platform models for multi-scale and multi-factor simulations to reasonably plan the setting of charging points, charging modes and the number of guns. A relevant person in charge of the Jiaxing Municipal Development and Reform Commission said that the average time for Jiaxing new energy vehicle owners to find public charging stations is 4.97 minutes, and a 5-minute charging circle has been initially formed.
The development of advanced digital technology has also provided a new path for efficient operation and maintenance of charging facilities. In recent years, with the vigorous development of the new energy vehicle market, my country has successively issued the "Implementation Opinions on Strengthening the Integration and Interaction of New Energy Vehicles and Power Grids" and the "Action Plan for Accelerating the Construction of a New Power System (2024-2027)", etc., encouraging various regions to build charging stations that integrate photovoltaic storage and charging. Collaborative control is the key technology of this type of charging station.
On January 3, Jiangsu's first AI-powered integrated photovoltaic, energy storage, charging and swapping station was completed, realizing intelligent optimization of the coordinated operation of photovoltaics, energy storage and charging piles, improving energy utilization efficiency and reducing operating costs.
"Users input the weather, photovoltaic, charging and swapping load of the day and the weather forecast data of the next day, and the photovoltaic output and charging and swapping load data of the next day can be automatically predicted. Based on these data, the station can flexibly adjust the charging and discharging time and power size of the energy storage and battery swapping devices to achieve the coordinated operation of the source, grid, load and storage, and ensure the maximization of operating benefits." Zhao Xiaowei, deputy director of the marketing department of the State Grid Kunshan Power Supply Company, introduced that after the application of new technologies, the photovoltaic absorption rate of the Green Energy e-station can be increased from 96.0% to 99.7%, the average daily discharge of energy storage will increase by 48.12 kWh, and the comprehensive benefits of photovoltaic storage operation will increase by 14.07%.
"Large model technology provides a new solution for the efficient operation of microgrids. It can not only guide the coordinated operation of photovoltaic storage and charging and swapping resources in charging stations, but also be promoted and applied to new microgrid scenarios such as industrial parks and farm fish ponds to maximize production and operation benefits." Yi Wenfei, an expert from the State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power Research Institute, said.
In the future, intelligent operation and maintenance technology and artificial intelligence will be widely used in charging facility networks. Zhou Libo, deputy secretary-general of the Electric Transportation and Energy Storage Branch of the China Electricity Council, said that intelligent operation and maintenance technology and artificial intelligence will drive the industry towards high efficiency, safety and integration. Charging facilities will adapt to the needs of efficient service applications in charging scenarios, showing a comprehensive, three-dimensional and diversified development trend.