There is no doubt that the world’s leading market for electric cars is China. The Asian giant manufactures thousands of units of both its domestic and Western brands. But the country is facing a serious problem that has forced the closure of part of its charging infrastructure.
China is one of the great world leaders in sales of electric cars, with a charging infrastructure that is beginning to show signs of exhaustion in the Asian giant. To the point that the government has been forced to close chargers due to the great heat wave that has reached more than 45ºwhich has caused the demand for electricity to skyrocket, since last June when the thermometers began an unstoppable rise.
The situation has become so unsustainable that the Government has decided to close both public and private charging points of brands such as Tesla, child either Xpengas pointed out from «MIT Technology Review». The result is a real meltdown among users. In the Sichuan region, only Two of Tesla’s 31 Superchargers Have Been Working and only those with the most expensive electricity prices.
The electric car charging network in China is in evidence
A situation that is taking place throughout the country and that is forcing the companies responsible for the public supply of electricity to offer discounts of up to 50% if owners charge overnight. This is the case of State Grid, the largest state-owned company in China, which had to cancel the service in three large Chinese provinces where it accumulates 800,000 electric vehicles.
Another giant is TELD, which has closed more than 120 charging stations in the Chengdu region, from 8 a.m. to midnight, peak electricity consumption time. Lei Xing, an auto industry analyst, noted that “We have never seen such widespread power shortages. It seems that China already has a good charging infrastructure… but once something like these power restrictions happens, the problems are exposed.”
All electric vehicle owners who depend on public charging points are in trouble now, a difficult situation that can make return to traditional fuels if it gets worse, and despite the fact that the purchase of electric cars has state aid of 4,000 dollars, just over 4,020 Euros. The high temperatures show a decline in charging infrastructure, taking into account that the highest percentage of electric cars is found in urban areas. And it is that, in China there are no alternative solutions to alleviate the lack of electricity.
China, forced to look for electricity in renewable energies
Solar panels only account for 2.8% of the entire countryand mostly in rural areas, and there are no domestic electric chargers either, since for this it would be necessary a permanent parking space, which is impossible in large Chinese cities. This is one of the keys that experts bet on to solve the problem, in addition to look for electricity in other renewable sources such as wind farms or offshore solar farms. Because Xing already warns: “If by 2025, more than half of the new cars sold in China could be electric – about 15 million – how can the electricity grid meet that kind of demand?”
