Developing new energy vehicles is the inevitable path for China to transition from a car manufacturing powerhouse to a car industry leader, impacting industrial upgrades, energy security, and green development. China adheres to a pure electric driving strategy, and during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, it has vigorously promoted the development of electric vehicles, achieving significant progress in the EV industry. The technology level has notably improved, the industrial system has become more完善, and corporate competitiveness has greatly increased. The 14th Five-Year Plan period is a crucial time for economic development to catch up and surpass. It will further boost the prosperity and development of the electric vehicle and charging market. Therefore, charging infrastructure is a fundamental guarantee for the promotion and application of electric vehicles.
2 Current Status
In Shaanxi Province, the number of vehicles stands at 7.395 million. By the end of 2020, there were 122,700 registered electric vehicles, with approximately 17,000 public charging stations across the province. These public charging facilities are primarily located in the capital city, with a concentration within the inner three rings. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period (2021-2025), it is planned to construct a total of 355,400 charging stations.
As of June 2021, the western city district has a total of 90 new energy vehicle charging stations, including 46 residential charging stations (5 shared public charging stations and 41 private charging stations for on-site parking spaces), and 44 additional charging stations at gas stations. There are 49 public charging stations and 41 private charging stations; 46 DC fast chargers (380V) and 44 AC slow chargers (220V). The comparison of new energy vehicle charging stations in the district is as follows, see Figures 1-3.
Figure 1: Proportion of Car Charging Poles in Various Areas of a District in Western City
Figure 2: Comparison of Electric Car Charging Station Types in a District of a Western City
Figure 3: Comparison of Fast and Slow Charging Stations in a District of a Western City
The analysis of the above data and charts reveals that the total number of new energy vehicle charging stations in the area is low, with a shortage of charging stations both in public and residential complexes. The regional distribution is uneven, with a significant number of charging stations in the provincial capital city and fewer in other city (county) districts. Overall development is unbalanced. At the same time, the market potential for development and investment is enormous.
3. Issues Identified
After preliminary investigation, statistics, analysis, and summary, the following issues were identified:
(1) Policy momentum is slightly insufficient.
After research, it has been found that compared to provincial capitals, the city's policies supporting the promotion and popularization of electric vehicles and the construction of charging infrastructure need to be strengthened. Particularly, local fiscal subsidies are still mainly reliant on central subsidies. The main reason for this is the limitation of the local fiscal situation. It is advisable to innovate business models and raise funds through multiple channels.
(2) Significant hurdles in the construction of private charging stations.
The construction of private charging stations relies on residential communities and property management. Due to the limitations of early planning and construction concepts, old communities lack adequate facilities, have limited parking spaces, high Floor Area Ratios, and transformer capacities that only meet current needs. Developers and design units of new communities have a weak awareness of forward-thinking development, resulting in a shortage of parking spaces with charging stations. Relevant departments have not included the construction of charging stations in parking spaces of new communities in the scope of acceptance and commissioning. There is a lack of cooperation from property management when residents negotiate for charging stations to be installed in private parking spaces, or there may be no space for substation boxes around the parking spaces, or the absence of pre-buried cables, etc.
(3) Inadequate standards for charging facilities.
Currently, there is a lack of unified standards among manufacturers of charging facilities, with different automakers equipping their vehicles with various charging guns and poor interoperability of charging interfaces. Unified standards have not yet been established for product safety, performance testing, construction quality, acceptance, and operation and maintenance stages of charging facilities.
(4) Inconsistent industry management.
Shaanxi Province has over 115 operators of charging facilities, including State Grid, Teledian, and Wanbang Xingxing, among others. However, some facilities have experienced delays in operational management after construction, leading to subpar safety and utilization rates of charging stations and overall service capability. Additionally, the public charging station sector faces issues such as a shortage of charging桩, high parking and charging fees, occupied spots by gasoline vehicles, long charging times, damaged charging equipment, inadequate daily maintenance, low convenience of charging, and uneven proportions of fast and slow charging. These situations all require enhanced industry management and a proper guidance for operators to transition from expansion to service-oriented models.
(5) Monolithic business model.
Currently, the operators of charging stations can be categorized from the perspective of their business functions into original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and specialized charging station operation companies. However, the majority of charging station operation companies have a rather monolithic profit model, primarily relying on charging fees, parking fees, and government subsidies for their economic income. Market expansion is insufficient, and power trading and vehicle-grid interaction have yet to take off, resulting in a relatively weak profitability in the industry. It is essential to actively explore diverse economic conversion methods and innovative business models, including advertising services, financial services, data services, and maintenance and repair, to enhance the overall economic benefits of the charging facility industry.
4 Recommendations
4.1 Combination of fast and slow charging
From the perspectives of battery safety and infrastructure requirements, slow charging (AC charging) has more obvious advantages over fast charging. It's not about the more slow charging, but rather a balanced combination of fast and slow charging to achieve a better structure ratio. Generally, it is recommended that residents with parking spaces in their communities install slow chargers, as this can not only reduce installation costs but also lower the safety risks during charging. On the other hand, professional charging stations are advised to install fast chargers, which can enhance customer charging experience, save charging time, increase the frequency of charging, shorten the payback period, accelerate capital turnover for operators, and maximize profitability.
4.2 Optimized layout of charging infrastructure
The optimization of layout should adhere to the principles of "people-oriented, vehicle and pole following, moderately ahead of time, and intelligent." This should be approached from three aspects: (1) Planning. The construction of charging infrastructure is a long-term systematic project. Currently, it should be planned at the national level according to the requirements of new infrastructure development. It is important to combine industry development plans with special plans. Through the average growth rate method and policy analysis, a scientific prediction of the future ownership of new energy vehicles can be made for a certain period of time to meet the charging needs of electric vehicles. (2) Urban-rural balance. The layout of charging facilities in urban areas should make full use of existing infrastructure, with more construction in residential areas, office districts, schools, stations, gas stations, and other densely populated and highly mobile public areas, making them both easy to find and use. (3) Urban-rural integration. Currently, the layout of public charging infrastructure in our country is relatively concentrated. Among them, the public charging infrastructure constructed in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Beijing, Shanghai, Shandong, Zhejiang, Anhui, Hebei, Hubei, and Fujian accounts for 73.9% [5]. These first-tier cities and provincial capitals generally have strong incentive policies and funding can be implemented. However, in third and fourth-tier cities and remote areas, due to limited fiscal capacity and insufficient incentive policies, the enthusiasm of charging桩 operation enterprises for investment is reduced, affecting the promotion process of new energy vehicles. Therefore, it is important to give full play to the role of urban areas in driving surrounding rural areas, achieving coordinated regional development, and enabling new energy vehicles to "go out."
4.3 Construction of the Intelligent Platform APP
Currently, various provinces and cities are developing their own intelligent vehicle networking platforms, which not only lead to resource waste but also inconvenience for drivers. This platform integrates all charging infrastructure nationwide, with each province and city responsible for the offline work of specific charging facilities and the recording of relevant information. In addition to basic functions like finding charging stations, using them, and paying, the platform should also interconnect with platforms for traffic, energy, and electricity, achieve data fusion, and share information, providing drivers with comprehensive, three-dimensional information services.
4.4 Charging Facilities Safety and Insurance
As new energy vehicles and their charging facilities are widely promoted, their own safety has also garnered extensive public concern. In light of recent cases, to prevent unsafe conditions in production, installation, lightning protection, fire prevention, waterproofing, and electrical leakage, it is suggested to include charging桩 and other facilities in the national 3C certification product catalog. Additionally, there should be comprehensive national, industry, and local charging facility standards in performance testing, construction quality, completion inspection, operation and maintenance, and annual inspections. Departments should strengthen the management of pre-project recordation for charging facility projects, organize joint inspections by departments such as housing construction, electricity, and emergency management in accordance with regulations after the project is completed, and only after passing the inspection should they be put into use. Charging facility operators should enhance safety management during operation, regularly conduct special risk隐患 inspections, and establish a隐患 record and closing system, ensuring "operation with no risks, no operation with risks." No facility can ensure absolute safety, hence necessary insurance measures are required. For new energy vehicles, which differ from traditional fuel vehicles, the following two insurance clauses are recommended when using charging facilities: one is that losses due to external grid failures (such as spontaneous combustion) when using public charging桩 should be covered; the other is that losses caused by failures of private charging桩, as well as any third-party personal injury or property damage resulting from such failures, should also be covered.
4.5 Talent and Innovation
Talent is the core driving force behind innovation. Local authorities should introduce measures to attract R&D and technical talents in the field of new energy vehicles and charging facilities. They should formulate talent attraction plans, provide affordable housing and research funding, enhance rewards for scientific research achievements, and strengthen the integration of industry, academia, and research. Maximize the utilization of cutting-edge core technologies held by major universities and research institutions, and play the role of enterprises as the main body of innovation to promote the transformation of scientific research outcomes. Focus on innovative research in areas such as charging batteries, wireless charging, ultra-high-power charging, low-power DC charging, group charging, recycling of retired batteries, and charging safety technology. Explore the adoption of battery swapping models for vehicle types with relatively fixed operation times and activity areas.
4.6 Promotion and Guidance
We are boosting our promotional efforts by organizing the International Automotive Industry Forum, international and domestic auto racing events, and fully utilizing various media platforms such as radio, television, the internet, and social media, with a focus on promoting "New Energy Vehicle Charging Piles."
The favorable policies for construction, the significant importance of enhancing people's well-being, and the guidance to attract financial capital, private investment, research institutions, and innovative talents to this sector, are strengthening the industrial and academic power of new energy vehicle charging stations.
Ankorri Charging Pile Charging Operation Cloud Platform Solution
The AcrelCloud-9000 charging column charging operation cloud platform system continuously collects and monitors data from electric bicycle charging stations connected to the system and various charging methods using IoT technology. It real-time monitors the operation status of charging stations, providing charging services, payment management, transaction settlement, resource management, energy management, and detailed inquiries. It also issues early warnings for various faults such as over-temperature protection, leakage, input/output overvoltage, undervoltage, and low insulation in charging machines. Charging stations support internet access via Ethernet, 4G, or WIFI, and users can scan to charge using WeChat, Alipay, or UnionPay QR codes.
5.1 Application Venue
Design of charging infrastructure for electric vehicle stations applicable to civil buildings, general industrial buildings, residential communities, industrial entities, commercial complexes, schools, and industrial parks.
5.2 System Architecture
The system is divided into four layers:
1) The data collection layer, network transmission layer, data center layer, and client layer.
2) Data Collection Layer: Standardized with Modbus-RTU communication protocol for electric scooter smart charging stations. These stations are used to collect electrical parameters of the charging circuit, perform energy metering, and provide protection.
3) Network Transmission Layer: Upload data to the established database server via 4G network.
4) Data Center Layer: Comprises application servers and data servers, where application servers host data collection services and WEB websites, and data servers are deployed for real-time databases, historical databases, and basic databases.
5) For end clients: System administrators can access the electric bike charging station billing platform through a web browser. End users initiate charging by swiping their cards or scanning QR codes.
The community charging platform primarily covers functions such as intelligent large screens for charging facilities, real-time monitoring, transaction management, fault management, statistical analysis, and basic data management. It also provides an operation and maintenance app for maintenance staff and a charging mini-program for charging users.
5.3 System Features
(1) Intelligent Large-Screen Interface
The intelligent large screen displays the distribution of charging stations, providing statistics on equipment status, usage rate, charging times, duration, cost, energy level, and fault reports. It also allows for viewing station information, list of charging stations, charging records, revenue, energy consumption, and fault logs for each station. It centrally manages community charging stations, monitors equipment usage rates, and allocates resources efficiently.
(2) Real-time Monitoring
Real-time monitoring of the operation status of charging facilities, including the operational status of charging stations, circuit conditions, charge amount during the charging process, charging voltage/current, and alarm information from charging stations.
(3) Transaction Management
Platform administrators can manage the charging user accounts, performing operations such as account recharging, refunds, freezing, and cancellation, and can view the detailed daily charging transaction information for community users.
(4) Fault Management
Equipment automatically reports fault information, allowing platform administrators to view and dispatch fault notifications through the platform. Meanwhile, maintenance staff can receive fault alerts via the maintenance app, and upon completion of maintenance tasks, they report the results. Charging users can also report on-site issues through the charging mini-program.
(5) Statistical Analysis
Through the system platform, retrieve statistics on charging transactions and energy consumption from various perspectives, including charging stations, charging facilities, charging duration, and charging methods.
(6) Basic Data Management
Establish operators on the system platform, allowing them to create and manage the necessary sites and charging facilities for their operations. Operators can maintain charging facility information, pricing strategies, discounts, and promotional activities, while also managing online card user top-ups, freezes, and unbindings.
(7) Operations App
Intended for use by operations personnel, the system allows for the management of sites and charging stations, facilitates fault closure processing, checks the usage status of traffic cards, inquires about charging and recharge status, performs remote parameter settings, and also receives fault notifications.
(8) Charging Mini-App
For electric vehicle users, the app allows for easy viewing of nearby available charging stations, featuring functions such as scanning to charge, account top-up, charging card binding, transaction inquiries, and fault complaints.
5.4 System Hardware Configuration
6. Summary
China is currently in a critical period of transformation and development. With the promotion of "new infrastructure," the construction of new energy vehicle charging stations is poised to experience a development opportunity. This article first statistically and analytically summarizes the current status of new energy vehicle charging station construction in a certain district of a western city, identifying five existing issues, and then proposes six effective suggestions: combining fast and slow charging; optimizing the layout of charging infrastructure; building smart platform apps; ensuring charging facility safety and insurance; fostering talent and innovation; and promoting publicity and guidance. These aims to provide certain experience and reference for the development of new energy vehicles in western provinces and cities as well as urban planning and layout.
