China’s Electric Car Charging Network Still Lacks Spark

While China has charged ahead in developing the world’s biggest electric vehicle (EV) market, the country is struggling to build the supporting infrastructure to recharge its electric fleet, with high costs, low usage and a lack of national safety standards all causing roadblocks.

A raft of generous policy incentives from Beijing in the last decade helped to turbocharge the development of China’s EV market, as the country sought to take pole position in the new market while trying to reduce CO2 omissions from traditional vehicles. New-energy vehicle sales surged by more than 60% last year to 1.25 million, with 99% of the world’s 425,000 e-buses operating on Chinese city streets.

Despite the government’s success in promoting EVs, it is having a much tougher time encouraging the charging infrastructure to match. Policymakers largely hoped that EV charging points could piggy back on the country’s network of 100,000 or so gas stations. But so far only around 50 gas stations have EV charging facilities, Zheng Jiatu, the deputy secretary of the China Electric Vehicle Charging Technology and Industry Alliance (CCTIA), told Caixin.

Source: caixinglobal