Changsha plans to open construction of charging facilities for electric automobiles to the private sector, with the power department shifting its focus to the construction and operation of facilities along the trunk highways.

Five charging stations built in five years

Changsha, in Central China's Hunan province, is among the first batch of pilot cities for the promotion of energy-saving and new energy vehicles nationwide. The city started its construction of charging facilities for green vehicles in 2010.

Over the years, the State Grid Changsha Power Supply Company has invested roughly 100 million yuan and built five charging stations in the city.

According to Liu Wei, head of the charging station in Changsha East Bus Station, the 60 charging piles in the station provide charging services for electric buses on four city bus lines. It takes five to six hours for the buses to fully charge during the night. With a maximum mileage of 250 km, the green buses are capable of meeting their operational requirements during the daytime, reducing the energy cost by half compared with the fuel-powered ones.

Peak period of construction around the corner

“Charging is a critical part for the promotion of new energy cars. Changsha will witness a peak period of construction of charging facilities after it opens this sector to society,” said an expert who did not reveal his name.

The Changsha government included the infrastructure construction of charging facilities for electric vehicles as part of its city planning in 2014. Preliminary work for an overall distribution of the charging infrastructure in the city is underway.

It encourages office buildings, shopping malls, hotels, housing projects, and public parking lots to build charging facilities.

Except for the charging station that is being built in Wangcheng Bus Station, the power department in the city said they are temporary halting construction of such facilities in the urban area, focusing on the construction and operation of those along the main expressways.

Charging station construction in service areas

According to Zhou Ning, manager of Changsha Electric Automobile Service Company, a branch of the State Grid Corporation, the power sector is comprehensively carrying forward the application of electric vehicles, and a charging network along the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Highway is taking shape.

Zhou said that all the service areas in Changsha section of the highway will be equipped with charging stations for electric cars in the near future.

A charging station in the Xingsha Service Area (north bound) of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Highway was recently built and will be put into service this June. “The station will be able to provide charging services for four vehicles at the same time. For normal electric cars, 80 percent of charging can be achieved in half an hour,” said Zhou.

At present, charging stations along the Yueyang, Hengyang, and Chenzhou sections are also being built. Construction of charging facilities will get started in other highways such as the Shanghai-Kunming line for the next step.