Challenges faced by new energy charging infrastructure

China [CN]

Charging infrastructure is in its infancy both at home and abroad. As it involves urban planning, construction land, building and distribution network transformation, residential installation conditions, investment and operation models, etc., there are many stakeholders and it is difficult to promote it.

1. There is great uncertainty in electric vehicles and their charging technology. The electric vehicle industry is still in its early stages of development. Key technologies such as power batteries and charging are developing rapidly. There are large differences in charging needs corresponding to different technical solutions, which increases the difficulty of charging infrastructure construction and management, increases investment and operation risks, and affects the enthusiasm of social capital participation.

2. Charging infrastructure and electric vehicle development are not coordinated. In the development of the electric vehicle industry, there is a general problem of focusing on cars but not charging infrastructure. There are cars without charging piles and charging piles without cars. On the one hand, electric vehicles have grown rapidly in some regions, but the scale of charging infrastructure construction is insufficient; on the other hand, due to the low user acceptance of electric vehicles and local protectionism, the overall growth of electric vehicles is lower than expected. In addition, the unreasonable layout of some charging infrastructure construction and the poor versatility of facilities have resulted in low utilization of charging infrastructure.

Three: The construction of charging infrastructure is difficult. The construction of charging infrastructure requires planning, land use, electricity and other prerequisites, and involves multiple competent departments and related enterprises in the implementation process. The construction of charging infrastructure in social parking lots faces many scattered stakeholders and coordination is difficult. In the field of private passenger cars, a large number of users with non-fixed parking spaces do not have the conditions for installation; for users who have the conditions for installation, there is a phenomenon that the owner's committee does not support and the property service company does not cooperate. In addition, since the charging infrastructure also involves the transformation of public power grids, user-side power facilities, road pipelines, etc., it also increases the difficulty of construction.

Not only for the above difficult cases, but also for the mature business model of charging services that has not yet been formed. In some cities, such as public transportation and taxis, the exploration of business models has made certain progress through the implementation of fuel price, peak and valley electricity prices, charging service fees and other measures, but it still does not have the conditions for large-scale promotion and application. In the field of public charging services for the public, the exploration of business models is in its infancy. Due to the small number of electric vehicles, low utilization of facilities, and imperfect price mechanisms, charging service companies generally suffer losses.

The standard specification system for charging infrastructure needs to be improved. Technical standards such as charging infrastructure equipment interface and communication protocol need to be improved urgently. Some of the promulgated technical standards have not been strictly implemented, resulting in incompatibility between electric vehicles of different brands and charging infrastructure of different manufacturers, greatly reducing the convenience of charging. The standards for engineering construction related to charging infrastructure need to be further improved. The communication protocols, settlement systems and other standards between charging infrastructure and charging service platforms are not unified, and the service capabilities and quality of charging service platforms fail to meet user needs.

Supporting support policies still need to be strengthened. Some local governments do not pay enough attention to the development of charging infrastructure, lack supporting support policies, and do not consider charging infrastructure enough in urban construction and related planning. The long-term land use policy for charging infrastructure needs to be further clarified and refined. The fiscal and tax support policies for charging infrastructure do not match the support policies for electric vehicles, which are not attractive enough to social capital, and the coordination and promotion of places such as residential areas and social parking lots where installation is difficult is insufficient.

For information on cable manufacturers' products and services, please subscribe: https://www.omgevcable.com