▲In Maying Village, Yangmiao Town, Changfeng County, Hefei City, Anhui Province, several new energy vehicles are charging using public charging stations in the village.

Photographed by journalist Liu Fangqiang

In recent years, Yiyuan County, located in the Yimeng Mountains of Shandong Province, has utilized mature technologies such as distributed photovoltaics, photovoltaic energy storage charging piles, and energy self balancing buildings to promote the construction of "low-carbon" demonstration villages. At present, Yiyuan County has implemented a total of 716 supporting power grid projects and built 228 electric vehicle charging stations. The picture shows residents charging electric vehicles at a photovoltaic energy storage charging station in Zhujiahu Village, Yanya Town.

Photographed by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Zheng

This is a photovoltaic energy storage charging station located in Zhujiahu Village, Yanya Town, Yiyuan County, Shandong Province. Photographed by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Zheng

In front of the Wushan Central Power Supply Station in Changfeng County, Hefei City, Anhui Province, a new energy vehicle is fully charged and the owner is driving away.

Photographed by journalist Liu Fangqiang

New energy vehicles are charged at the "optical storage and charging" integrated charging station in Zhucun, Linshu County, Linyi City, Shandong Province. Photographed by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Guofeng

Summer rain comes and goes quickly. At around 10 a.m., several new energy vehicle owners came to the Wushan Central Power Supply Station in Changfeng County, Hefei City, Anhui Province to charge the new energy vehicles. These car owners were all nearby villagers. In early June of this year, State Grid Anhui Hefei Power Supply Company built four new electric vehicle charging stations on the vacant land outside the Wushan Central Power Supply Station to meet the charging needs of new energy vehicles in rural areas.

In recent years, China's new energy vehicle industry has developed rapidly, but the shortcomings in the construction of charging infrastructure in rural areas have constrained the release of the consumption potential of new energy vehicles. Industry insiders point out that moderately advancing the construction of charging infrastructure and optimizing the environment for purchasing and using new energy vehicles is of great significance for promoting new energy vehicles to rural areas, guiding rural residents to travel green, and assisting in the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas.

Uneven urban-rural development

Previously, I had to drive more than 20 kilometers to Hefei City to charge, but now it's only 4 kilometers away, which is much more convenient. "said Yang Shuquan, a resident of the fifty port community in Wushan Town, Changfeng County. This year, many people in the community have bought new energy vehicles, including their nephews and nephews. Young people usually work in the city and return to the countryside on weekends and holidays. Now there are also places to recharge their batteries

Data shows that in 2022, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China reached 7.058 million and 6.887 million, respectively, with year-on-year growth of 96.9% and 93.4%, and a market share of 25.6%. This means that for every four new cars sold in China, one is a new energy vehicle.

However, Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Xin Guobin, stated that from a urban-rural perspective, the rural market has not yet been fully explored. In 2022, the sales of new energy vehicles in rural areas only accounted for 4% of the total sales of vehicles in rural areas, far below the overall industry level of 25.6%.

The low sales of new energy vehicles in rural areas have led to slow construction of charging infrastructure, which will inevitably affect the sales of new energy vehicles in rural areas. These two aspects are mutually constrained and urgently need to be broken.

From an absolute quantity perspective, from 2015 to 2022, the ownership of charging infrastructure in China increased from less than 100000 units to 5.21 million units, with an average annual growth of over 700000 units. Especially since 2021, "cars" and "piles" have shown a synchronous explosive growth trend. As of the end of May this year, the scale of charging infrastructure has reached 6.356 million units.

China has built the world's largest charging infrastructure system with the largest number, largest radiation area, and most comprehensive service vehicles, providing strong support for the rapid development of new energy vehicles. However, there are still problems in the vast rural areas, such as insufficient construction of public charging infrastructure, difficulty in installing and sharing charging facilities in residential communities, and prominent supply-demand conflicts during certain periods, which restrict the release of the consumption potential of new energy vehicles in rural areas.

Intensive implementation of favorable policies

In view of the unbalanced development of the new energy vehicle market in urban and rural areas, at the beginning of the year, the No. 1 central document of the Central Committee proposed to encourage qualified regions to carry out new energy vehicles in the countryside; In May, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration issued the Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of Charging Infrastructure and Better Supporting the Rural Revitalization of New Energy Vehicles; In June, the Ministry of Commerce announced the coordinated implementation of the "Hundred Cities Linkage" Automobile Festival and the "Thousand Counties and Ten Towns" New Energy Vehicle Consumption Season, further enriching the supply of rural new energy vehicle products.

In order to unleash the consumption potential of new energy vehicles to a greater extent, the State Council executive meeting held on June 2nd proposed to continue and optimize the policy of reducing and exempting the purchase tax on new energy vehicles.

According to preliminary estimates, the total amount of vehicle purchase tax reduction and exemption from 2024 to 2027 will reach 520 billion yuan. "Vice Minister of Finance Xu Hongcai revealed at the State Council's regular policy briefing on June 21 that the new energy vehicle purchase tax reduction and exemption policy will be extended from implementation until December 31, 2023 to December 31, 2027, with the first two years remaining exempt.

The intensive implementation of a series of national policies has pointed out the direction for local governments to promote new energy vehicles to the countryside.

In recent years, Hefei Power Supply Company has actively responded to the national call and continued to optimize the layout plan of charging facilities in rural areas. In 2022 alone, it invested 340 million yuan to implement rural power grid consolidation and upgrading projects, such as transformer capacity increase and transmission line replacement, to enhance the support and guarantee capacity of rural power grids.

As of the end of June this year, Hefei Power Supply Company has built 196 public charging stations in the public areas of 50 township power supply stations in Hefei, bringing convenience to the charging of township residents.

We also combined on-site visits and platform heat map analysis to build 717 charging stations in county-level bus hubs such as Zipengshan Bus Station, rural areas with high demand for charging, and homestay scenic spots, achieving full coverage of charging facility network in rural areas. "said Wu Wei, director of marketing department of Hefei Power Supply Company.

Moderately advancing the construction of charging infrastructure and optimizing the environment for purchasing and using new energy vehicles is of great significance for promoting new energy vehicles to rural areas, guiding green travel for rural residents, and assisting in the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas.

We actively promote the 'three benefits' service of new energy vehicle charging facilities, which means that new energy vehicle owners can return home, leave the city, and go to the countryside. According to the construction principle of moderate advancement, slow charging as the main focus, and a combination of fast and slow, Hefei Power Supply Company has completed full coverage of charging facilities in 50 township power supply stations in Hefei, "said Wu Wei.

Maying Village, Yangmiao Town, Changfeng County is a key rural tourism village in China. Research tours, agricultural tours, sketching tours, and rural tours have brought a large number of tourists here. To better serve tourists, in July 2022, the local power department established a public charging station in the village, which can simultaneously meet the charging needs of six vehicles.

Seeing that there is a charging station in the village, I also bought a new energy vehicle during this year's' 618 'shopping festival. The charging station is only 400 meters away from my home, "Yang Jun, a villager from Maying Village who just charged the car, told reporters.

Zhang Xianao runs a farmhouse in the local area, and after installing charging poles in the village, the number of tourists coming to his house for meals has also increased. There are more new energy vehicles now, so you don't have to worry about having nowhere to charge when you come here to play, "Zhang Xianao told reporters.

Release of rural market potential

In order to make new energy vehicles run far in rural areas, in addition to using public charging stations, many car owners also choose to install private charging stations. In March of this year, Hefei Power Supply Company signed cooperation agreements with more than 20 local new energy vehicle 4S stores such as Chery, BYD, and Jianghuai, providing a one-stop service of "purchasing cars, installing piles, and connecting electricity". Consumers can simultaneously complete their electricity business while purchasing cars.

In response to the current strong demand for individual new energy vehicle charging in townships in Hefei, Hefei Power Supply Company continuously improves its service level. It is understood that residents prepare relevant materials and apply for installation online through the "Online State Grid" app. The customer manager can provide full service on-site, and customers can use private charging stations in less than a week on average.

In addition to "delivering piles to doorstep", many local power supply companies also provide new energy vehicle test drive services. For example, in some large township power supply stations, Hefei Power Supply Company has collaborated with well-known domestic new energy vehicle companies to set up new energy vehicle test drive zones, providing residents with a "zero distance" experience of green and convenient travel.

According to preliminary statistics, according to Wu Wei, the reported installation volume of charging stations in rural areas in Hefei has increased by over 50% year-on-year this year. Although this number is still lower than the growth rate in urban areas, it indicates that the charging network in rural areas is accelerating and will become increasingly dense over time.

It is understood that in 2023, Anhui Province will comprehensively launch the construction of charging and swapping infrastructure at the city, county, and township levels. It is planned to achieve a coverage rate of 75% by 2024 and basically complete full coverage by 2025, creating a "friendly province" for new energy vehicle travel.

Since the completion of a public charging station 3 kilometers away from home, Guo Xin'an, a villager from Juwang Village, Haikou Town, Daguan District, Anqing City, Anhui Province, no longer needs to go to the city to charge his new energy vehicles. Now, with a range of over 200 kilometers per half hour of charging, Guo Xinan's "mileage anxiety" is much less.

The Guiding Opinions on Further Building a High Quality Charging Infrastructure System issued by the General Office of the State Council in June further proposed that by 2030, a high-quality charging infrastructure system with extensive coverage, moderate scale, reasonable structure, and complete functions should be basically completed, and a charging network with urban area, highway line, and rural point layout should be constructed.

In addition, many experts suggest that in addition to accelerating the layout of charging infrastructure, new energy vehicle companies should start from the needs of rural users and develop new energy vehicles suitable for use in rural areas. For example, poor road smoothness in rural areas and low chassis of new energy vehicles are prone to collisions, affecting battery safety; Rural consumers have high requirements for the carrying capacity of cars, while most new energy vehicles focus more on driving comfort. The two sides have different concerns about car performance, resulting in mismatched demand.

From the previous years of home appliances and cars going to the countryside to the current situation of new energy vehicles going to the countryside, the fact shows that the vast rural areas have enormous consumption potential. As more and more new energy vehicles "enter" rural areas, enterprises can open up larger markets, and farmers will also have a better life. This will also help achieve China's "dual carbon" goals as soon as possible. (Liu Fangqiang)

Source: Economic Reference Report