New Year's new energy infrastructure layout is frequent!

On February 23, according to the official website of the Ministry of Transport, in order to accelerate the construction of charging infrastructure in highway service areas in 2024, the Ministry of Transport issued the "Notice on Accelerating the Construction of Charging Infrastructure in Highway Service Areas in 2024" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice").

The "Notice" makes it clear that this year, the country plans to add 3,000 charging piles and 5,000 charging parking spaces in highway service areas to continuously improve the charging service guarantee capacity along the highway. At the same time, all localities should improve the operation and service level of charging facilities, and gradually increase the proportion of ultra-fast charging and high-power charging infrastructure equipment in highway service areas with large flow of electric vehicles and strong charging demand according to the rules of public travel and charging demand.

The "Notice" emphasizes that before the end of this year, the coverage rate of charging piles in highway service areas other than alpine and high altitude areas should reach 100%;

At present, China's new energy vehicle market is developing rapidly. According to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in 2023, China's new energy vehicle sales will reach 9.495 million units, a year-on-year increase of 37.9%, and the market share will reach 31.6%. Not long ago, Miao Wei, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, deputy director of the Economic Committee, and former minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, publicly shared his judgment: "The market penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China may exceed 50% 10 or 9 years ahead of schedule, that is, it will account for more than 50% in 2025 or 2026." ”

In this context, accelerating the construction of supporting infrastructure for new energy transportation has become an indispensable measure.

According to public information, as of the end of October 2023, a total of 6,257 service areas with charging parking spaces have been built across the country, accounting for 94% of the total number of expressway service areas. A total of 20,000 charging piles have been built in highway service areas across the country, covering 49,000 parking spaces for small passenger cars. Beijing, Liaoning, Jilin, Shanghai, Zhejiang and other 11 provinces highway service area charging facilities coverage rate of 100%.

"The issuance of the notice further increases the construction of new energy infrastructure, which will bring good news to the new energy vehicle industry. This is also an important measure taken by China to respond to climate change, reduce environmental pollution, and promote economic transformation and upgrading, which is not only conducive to the promotion and popularization of new energy vehicles, but also conducive to promoting technological innovation in the field of transportation in China. Yuan Shuai, a senior researcher at the China Logistics Research Institute, told reporters.

In terms of commercial vehicles, the growth of new energy sources has been slightly sluggish. From the perspective of penetration rate, in 2022, the penetration rate of new energy commercial vehicles will be only 10.2%, of which the penetration rate of medium and heavy-duty new energy trucks will be 2.7%.

According to a previous report by this newspaper, Wang Pingxi, deputy director of the Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction Center of the Beijing Transportation Development Research Institute, has analyzed that "trucks account for 9.5% of the country's motor vehicles, contributing 65% of carbon emissions in the transportation field and 85% of NOX (nitrogen oxides) emissions. ”

It is worth mentioning that according to the latest data released by the first commercial vehicle network on February 22, in January this year, the domestic new energy heavy truck market sold a total of 3,623 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 152%.

"At present, new energy heavy trucks have problems such as short mileage, long charging time, low attendance efficiency, and excessive energy consumption. Heavy truck charging stations and battery swap stations have problems such as insufficient quantity, long charging time, and low economic benefits. Wanlian Securities investment consultant Qu Fang introduced to reporters.

The reporter noted that on February 20, the official website of the Ministry of Transport also issued the "Opinions of the Ministry of Transport on the State Power Investment Group Co., Ltd. to carry out the pilot work of the construction of a transportation power such as the construction and operation demonstration of heavy truck battery swap stations" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), in which "the principle agrees to build a network and operation demonstration in the heavy truck battery swap station" is a key pilot content.

An Guangyong, an expert of the Credit Management Committee of the China Mergers and Acquisitions Association, told reporters that the difficulties faced in the construction and operation of heavy truck battery swap stations include technical challenges, high initial investment, optimization of battery swap station layout and logistics distribution, and the need to build an efficient charging or battery swap network to meet the needs of large-scale operations. In addition, it is necessary to consider compatibility with existing energy supply systems, as well as policies and market acceptance to promote new energy heavy trucks.

In fact, in October 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology launched the pilot work on the application of battery swap mode for new energy vehicles, and clearly included Yibin, Sichuan, Tangshan, Hebei, and Baotou, Inner Mongolia into the pilot cities of heavy truck characteristics. In 2022, Jiangsu Province will accelerate the unification of battery swap standards for heavy trucks, and Baotou City will introduce local battery swap standards for electric heavy trucks. In the same year, Sichuan, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Chongqing and other places all issued additional policies related to the subsidy of battery swapping for heavy trucks or heavy truck swapping stations. In March last year, a series of group standards for the construction of shared battery swapping vehicles and battery swapping stations for electric medium and heavy trucks were released. These policies and measures have paved the way for the replacement of new energy heavy trucks bit by bit.

The "Opinions" put forward that it is necessary to develop high-speed and heavy-duty battery swapping robots and two-way overhead machines, and develop fast, compatible, shared, and station-network interactive battery swap station products and equipment. Relying on the products of battery swap stations, we will study the technical specifications for the efficient layout of battery swap stations for short-fall scenarios, and introduce group standards such as construction acceptance and safety management. In a variety of short-term demand scenarios, promote the application of battery swapping heavy trucks and the construction of battery swap stations in the operation mode of "vehicle-electricity separation". Construct a cross-scenario and cross-urban agglomeration network of heavy-duty truck battery swap stations, and carry out research on land use planning, power grid wiring and charging standards for battery swap stations. Establish a comprehensive intelligent operation platform for battery-swapping vehicles, and carry out application demonstrations of station-network interaction. "The approval of the "Opinions" will once again bring benefits to the development of the industry. Qu Fang said.