[Text/Electric Vehicle Resource Network Cai Min] New statistics from the China Automobile Association show that in the first five months of this year, China produced 132,000 new energy vehicles and sold 126,000 vehicles, an increase of 131.4% and 134.1% respectively over the same period last year. The surge in production and sales of new energy vehicles has also led to a booming market for supporting charging piles.

As the "entrance" to the Internet of Vehicles and smart grids, the market situation of charging piles reminds people of Lu Xun's words: "Hope does not matter whether it is there or not. It is like a road on the ground. In fact, there is no road on the ground. When there are more people walking on it, it becomes a road." In the past, the charging pile industry could only be an inconspicuous sporadic small business forgotten in the corner. And because of the rise of new energy vehicles in the past few years, from last year's promotion of cars without docks to the stimulation of national subsidy policies, many companies have seen hope. Facing the treacherous and ever-changing market, few people can accurately judge who will laugh last. But everyone knows that charging piles have huge potential value and are a big piece of meat. Whoever grabs them first will take advantage.

The charging pile business has huge potential value and will play an important role in data collection and analysis, resource optimization and allocation in the future construction of smart cities and smart communities. The charging pile business already has broad development prospects and room for business model innovation.

Charging pile business model innovation: a new entrance to “Internet +”

As an important part of the smart grid, charging piles are not only a channel for energy monetization, but also an import port for energy data traffic. In the Internet era where data is king, it is undoubtedly of strong strategic significance to take the lead in its layout and seize the entrance to the energy Internet.

According to the reporter's understanding, during the charging process, the electric vehicle and the charging backend need to exchange data to control the current, so that data related to the electric vehicle can be obtained.

In addition, electric vehicle charging and payment generally use mobile devices such as mobile phones, such as APP clients. Taking Beijing as an example, electric vehicle owners can use the mobile APP client to check the construction distribution, specific location, quantity, and number of free charging ports of charging piles, and then choose a nearby charging point to charge.

If we want to quickly promote charging piles across the country, we must find new profit models for charging piles. Traditionally, we rely on charging business to make money and charge charging electricity fees and service fees. Cost recovery is very slow, which hinders the promotion of charging piles. It is not feasible to make money from charging business alone. In the future, there will be more and more charging piles, and charging piles will be unmanned. By then, charging piles will have opened up online payment channels. Relying on pile advertising, charging management systems and mobile APPs, charging pile tail rentals, electric vehicle rentals, other equipment charging, electricity services and other profit models, manufacturers will be proactive in the construction of charging piles.

It is difficult to promote charging piles in third- and fourth-tier cities due to various reasons.

First of all, consumers in third- and fourth-tier cities have relatively few subsidies for purchasing electric vehicles. Only national subsidies can be enjoyed, and local subsidies are not as strong as those in Beijing and Shanghai, which reduces consumers' willingness to purchase.

Second, electric vehicles are often the second car for families. Consumers in third- and fourth-tier cities are still in the popularization stage of one car and are less sensitive to electric vehicles.

Third, the current electric vehicles in third- and fourth-tier cities are mainly low-speed electric vehicles. These electric vehicles use lead-acid batteries as their power source. This battery does not support fast charging.

Fourth, many electric car owners in first-tier cities do not have independent parking spaces, so using charging piles is a necessity. Electric car owners in third- and fourth-tier cities often have independent garages and only use the car in the city. Therefore, even if there are charging piles, the usage efficiency is very low.

Fifth, charging charging electricity fees and service fees is the basic way for most charging pile operators to make profits. However, the user base is too small, and it is difficult to make profits in first-tier cities, let alone third- and fourth-tier cities. Therefore, the construction of charging piles in third- and fourth-tier cities will not be easy to promote in a short period of time.

Who is responsible for the safety of charging piles? People pay attention to safety issues

With the recent frequent news of electric vehicle fires, on the one hand, people have questioned the safety of electric vehicles. On the other hand, some residents are also worried about whether it is safe to install charging piles in their communities. Once an electric vehicle causes a fire, the residents on the first floor will be severely affected. The venue issue is a very important issue.

Even if the site problem is solved, the question remains, who will install the electric vehicle charging piles? Who will maintain it? Who will supervise? Who sets the standards? These questions remain unanswered. Relevant government departments are now promoting the construction of electric vehicle charging piles. As of now, no management department has told the property department which companies' charging piles are safe to use. Mainly the property department communicates with the company, but the company has not produced relevant qualifications to prove that they meet national standards. Safety control is based on experience. The property management company does not have professional knowledge, only the manufacturer does. Therefore, the production and maintenance of electric vehicle charging piles are generally the responsibility of the manufacturer or operator.

It’s “difficult and slow” to get subsidies in place. Electric vehicle charging piles quietly bask in the sun

According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, there are currently more than 600 domestic companies involved in the construction and operation of charging piles. However, some charging pile company investors said that the current policy orientation is "emphasis on construction and light on operation", and the strength of market investors is very different. What’s even more embarrassing is that many investors only discovered after coming in that it was difficult to implement subsidies for charging piles, resulting in difficult operations. The investment ranged from six to seven million yuan to several million yuan. Without government subsidies, it would be difficult to recover the costs within three to five years.

The reporter learned that in actual operations, it is not easy for charging pile companies to apply for local subsidies in various places. "First-tier cities have basically introduced policies to subsidize the construction of charging piles, but the specific details of how to apply are not clear, and the review is very strict, and companies rarely get subsidies." said a person in charge of a charging system company who did not want to be named.

An industry source revealed that although the company has entered more than 80 cities across the country, only 3 to 4 cities have actually entered the subsidy application process.

The construction of charging facilities is an important supporting equipment for new energy vehicles, and its improvement and promotion will directly determine whether new energy vehicles can be rolled out. Therefore, vigorously promoting the construction of charging facilities will become one of the main tasks to accelerate the development of new energy vehicles. Premier Li Keqiang has emphasized the deployment and acceleration of electric vehicle charging infrastructure several times this year, and requires that the proportion of new residential parking spaces or reserved charging facilities should reach . However, it is obviously still a long process from policy to implementation. [Source: Electric Vehicle Resource Network Cai Min]