China's power crisis hits EV charging networks

DESPITE staggering growth in the number of state-owned recharge stations in China over the past year, parts of the country are experiencing a power supply crisis caused by climatic conditions that is impacting the vast EV car parc.

These unforeseen circumstances have created a concurrent EV recharging issue in parts of China that give us in Australia a heads-up in terms of what to expect and what EV infrastructure may be needed…

The problem in China is not how many recharge stations there are, it’s providing enough electricity.

The current ratio of stations to EVs there is 1:2.1, which means that the construction of new EV recharge stations can keep up with the demand from EV users.

The scenario provides a clear picture of what will be required here to accommodate expected high growth in EV uptake underlining the need for planning along the entire supply chain and not just at the delivery point.

As of May 2022, the Chinese Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance (EVCIPA) reported that there are a total of 1.419 million public EV recharge stations across the entire country which include 613,000 providing DC power, 806,000 providing AC power, and 485 AC/DC integrated recharge stations.

China has built 87,000 New EV Recharge Stations in May 2022 compared year on year to 2021, the number of EV charging stations has increased by 60.5 per cent.

Regardless of this large number of recharge stations, adverse weather is causing China’s power generation crisis in certain provinces irrespective of the effects of COVID-19 lockdowns.

Automotive News Europe (ANE) say user apps show charging stations are down in Chengdu in Sichuan province – where the nation’s worst drought since the 1960s has slashed hydropower generation at the same time a punishing heatwave has sent electricity demand surging – also in the nearby city of Chongqing.

“China’s power crisis is affecting many EV owners, with carmakers including Tesla and Nio suspending some charging facilities,” says the ANE report.

Tesla has turned off or restricted services at more than a dozen super-charging stations in two cities, leaving just two still in operation and only during the night as of August 17.

Nio posted temporary notices on its app’s charging map page informing owners that some of its Chengdu battery-swapping stations are off-line because of the “severe overload on the grid under the persisting high temperatures”.

The knock-on effect of the power supply crisis in the region can be seen in other automotive areas with power cuts in Sichuan adding to the woes of manufacturers including Toyota and battery producer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., which have shut factories.

ANE says Teld New Energy, which operates around 300,000 charging pylons nationwide, is asking drivers to check if the services are online before setting out, because local power authorities have requested a shutdown of some facilities. The company is also offering preferential rates for users who charge late at night or early in the morning to avoid the peak time for power demand.

At the same time, Nio is asking users in Sichuan to share their home chargers between August 20 and Sept. 20, while some drivers are trading their fully-charged batteries for almost-depleted ones at swapping stations to help fellow EV owners.

In May 2022, the total EV charging electricity power consumption nationwide was about 1.56 billion kWh in a month. That represents an increase of 140 million kWh from the previous month and an increase of 83.1 per cent year-on-year with a month-on-month increase of 10.0 per cent.

As the world’s largest market for EVs, China knows that charging stations must be accessible to the general public, affordable, widely available and convenient to use. This has driven the construction of the country’s massive publicly owned EV recharge station network that can replenish most non-proprietary EVs.