Recently, the Central Economic Work Conference has made comprehensive arrangements for next year’s economic work from the aspects of expanding domestic demand and accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system, with a focus on supporting the consumption of electric vehicles, accelerating the research and application promotion of cutting-edge new energy technologies.
In the energy-saving and emission reduction subsidy funds issued by the Ministry of Finance in 2023, the subsidy funds for the promotion and application of new energy vehicles reached 16.78 billion yuan. The consumption of new energy vehicles is also quite bright – as of October this year, the total number of new energy vehicles in China exceeded 11.49 million, and the number of public charging stations reached 1.68 million, with an average of about 51000 public charging stations built each month.
On the one hand, there are favorable policies for the new energy vehicle industry, and on the other hand, there is a sustained growth in demand for new energy vehicles. With the vigorous construction of charging infrastructure, there is an urgent need to launch plans for new energy vehicle charging infrastructure in various regions.
Construction of charging infrastructure in foreign countries
The construction of ev charging infrastructure in foreign countries is earlier than in China, and it has certain reference value in planning, layout, and operation mode. Here, we will briefly describe the examples of the United States, Europe, and Japan.
United States
The research and policy support for new energy vehicle technology in the United States began in the second half of the 20th century. The distribution of electric vehicle charging facilities has now basically covered the whole country, forming a pattern of high-density clustering in the western region and uniform distribution in the eastern region. The western region is relatively concentrated in three regions: California, Illinois, and New York. A high-density gathering pattern of central commercial and entertainment areas, scenic and cultural areas has been formed within the urban area. The distribution of portable charging stations is mainly combined with indoor and outdoor parking lot installation, usually arranged along parking spaces in a specific way to achieve integrated parking and charging. ev charging cable
Taking Tesla’s electric vehicle charging system as an example, cross city travel is supported by “super charging stations” in core cities, coupled with fast charging parking spaces scattered throughout large commercial properties to ensure commuting within the city, and slow chargers at home can basically meet the charging needs of residents.
Europe
The popularization of new energy vehicles in Europe is driven by policy factors in different countries. The construction of charging infrastructure in France is mainly promoted by government departments and power companies. Charging facilities are built around cities, using a time-sharing lease method and focusing on public transportation nodes for planning and construction. Charging facilities are included in the urban infrastructure planning system. In addition to adopting the above modes, Germany has also launched multifunctional charging modes such as street lamp charging, meter charging, and billboard charging stations. Overall, Europe’s infrastructure planning for charging is focused on cities, which is relatively limited and still needs to gradually connect highways and establish a high-power charging network.
Japan
The layout of charging facilities in Japan is relatively balanced by combining the layout of dispersed ordinary chargers with the layout of homogeneous fast charging stations. Small areas, islands, and scenic spots can be fully charged using existing power infrastructure by installing regular chargers; Build fast charging stations in the centers of economically developed big cities, highway service areas, and entrances.
The current situation and problems of domestic charging infrastructure construction
China’s new energy vehicles and charging facilities have entered a period of rapid growth. At present, charging facilities are mainly distributed in the eastern and central regions with relatively developed economies, and less in the central and western regions. They operate in the Internet mode and the Internet plus hardware facilities mode, and are mainly concentrated in three operating enterprises, namely, the National Grid, Telun and Xingxing Charging. The construction sites mainly include residential areas, public service areas, internal parking lots of enterprises, urban public parking lots, and dedicated areas for highways.
Some cities in China have incorporated charging infrastructure planning into their urban planning, but overall, the planning of charging infrastructure in China is still in its early stages. The mismatch between charging facilities and the development of new energy vehicles has hindered the further development of the industry due to the low ownership of charging facilities. Specifically, there are several prominent issues.
Firstly, there is insufficient research in the early stage, with a small construction scale and low practicality.
Due to the clear policy orientation of China’s new energy industry, some urban areas lack sufficient preliminary research and thorough research in the preparation of relevant facility space plans, and have insufficient understanding of the current situation of construction and operation of new energy vehicles and charging facilities. This has exposed problems such as small construction scale, mismatch with demand, and low practicality.
Secondly, there is no systematic planning and chaotic layout, which cannot meet the growing charging needs of citizens.
The lack of systematic consideration of user needs, urban planning, regional planning, land resources, operational management, and other issues has led to uneven spatial layout, insufficient foresight, and uneven resource allocation, causing citizens to fall into the dilemma of “difficult parking” and “difficult charging”.
Thirdly, the configuration is single, the technological development is weak, and there is a lack of innovation drive.
Compared with other energy infrastructure, charging facilities have strong technological relevance. At present, China’s new energy vehicle industry has insufficient investment in research and development, resulting in slow updates and development of charging stations and charging piles, and a lack of innovation driven technology. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the charging level from the technical side in a targeted manner.
Suggestions for future domestic charging infrastructure planning
The construction of charging infrastructure should adapt to the development plan of urban electric vehicles in China, and be comprehensively coordinated from a global perspective. Charging infrastructure planning should be coordinated with urban development planning to meet the requirements of local economic and transportation development. It is necessary to integrate relevant special plans such as urban power grid, public transportation, parking lots (garages), gas stations, etc. According to the phased characteristics of urban electric vehicle industrialization development, closely combine different fields and levels of charging needs, scientifically grasp the development rhythm, classify and implement in an orderly manner, reasonably layout charging infrastructure, and save land resources.
layout
The layout of charging infrastructure should be consistent with the charging needs of electric vehicles, first addressing the charging needs in the public transportation sector, and then gradually alleviating the charging difficulties in the private passenger vehicle sector. Secondly, the distribution of charging infrastructure should consider suitable deployment density. In the initial stage, it is recommended to form a low-density, large-area basic charging service area to facilitate vehicles to receive energy replenishment in a short period of time. At the same time, fully considering the convenience of user use, setting reasonable layout density and scientific layout based on the technical performance and traffic density of electric vehicles.
site selection
The location selection of charging infrastructure should meet the requirements of convenience, economy, and safety. It can be built in areas with concentrated and convenient charging needs. It is recommended to be as close to urban roads as possible, and various parking facilities and bus stops can be used for joint construction. However, avoid choosing at intersections of urban main roads and busy traffic sections, which can easily cause congestion. Charging infrastructure should be combined with the construction of highway service areas, urban and rural areas along national highways, and consider the future expansion of regional and surrounding roads and facilities. Sites with expansion space can be selected to adapt to the development of surrounding transportation.
land use
According to national standards, clarify the land attributes for the construction of charging infrastructure, such as the ownership relationship for intensive station construction, new typical stations, etc. Intensive station construction, which means maintaining the current land use rights and purposes unchanged, is suitable for joint construction of dedicated charging stations. Newly built typical stations are clearly designated as charging station land, and newly built urban public charging stations generally belong to this category. The control of land use nature provides a basis for incorporating the spatial planning of urban electric vehicle charging infrastructure into the statutory urban planning level, and also provides a legal basis for controlling land use at the regulatory detailed planning level.
Data sources and acknowledgments
Shanghai Spatial Planning (Invasion and deletion)
