Public charging piles are occupied, and the problem of "charging difficulties" for electric vehicles needs to be solved

As more and more car owners choose new energy vehicles, China Business News reporters visited several parking lots in Beijing to find out how the related charging facilities are being used.

In a residential area in Beijing, a row of fuel-powered vehicles are parked in an electric car parking space. The long-term occupation of the parking spaces has caused great inconvenience to electric car owners, and this charging problem has caused some consumers to give up their plans to buy new energy vehicles. Photo by Li Meng

According to data previously released by the National Energy Administration, by the end of 2017, the number of various types of car charging piles in my country reached 450,000, of which about 240,000 were private dedicated charging piles. In terms of public charging piles, my country has built a "six vertical and six horizontal and two ring" expressway fast charging network, including Beijing-Harbin, Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao, Beijing-Shanghai, Shanghai-Chongqing, Shanghai-Chongqing, Capital Ring, and Hangzhou Bay Ring, forming a "nine vertical and nine horizontal and two ring" pattern, with an average distance of 50 kilometers between stations.

But even so, the problem of charging new energy vehicles still exists.

Recently, the Beijing Municipal Urban Management Commission and the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission jointly issued the "Implementation Opinions on Strengthening the Construction and Management of Charging Facilities in Parking Lots", requiring that existing parking lots that have not yet built charging facilities and are open to the public should be equipped with public charging facilities at a ratio of no less than 10% of parking spaces. At the same time, it clearly stipulates that fuel vehicles are not allowed to occupy parking spaces dedicated to electric vehicles.

As more and more car owners choose new energy vehicles, China Business News reporters visited several parking lots in Beijing to find out how the related charging facilities are being used.

Fuel vehicles take up space, and charging piles become decorations

"In Beijing, the density of charging stations is still relatively high, but some cars are not conscious and do not drive away after fully charging, especially some shared cars, which remain parked without anyone driving away. There are also many fuel-powered cars that occupy parking spaces."

"The most annoying thing is that the charging pile is right in front of you, but you can't charge it." In the underground parking lot of a shopping mall, Mr. Wang, a car owner who had just charged his car, told China Business News that he went out to handle business, but because the journey was long, he was worried that he would run out of power on the way back, so he wanted to find a charging pile to charge first. "There are supposedly many parking lots nearby, but I found several parking lots that were full or unavailable. I walked all the way from Yong'anli to Dawang Road before I found a charging pile that could be used." Since the parking spot was two kilometers away from the destination, Mr. Wang took a taxi back to the place where he handled the business after parking his car. "Is it because there are too few charging piles? I don't think so. I think at least in Beijing, the density of charging piles is still relatively large, but there are some cars that are not conscious and don't drive away after they are fully charged, especially some shared cars, which stay there without anyone driving away. There are also many fuel vehicles that occupy parking spaces." said Mr. Wang, the car owner.

The reporter found that comments such as "often occupied by fuel vehicles" often appeared on a charging APP. The reporter went to a parking lot in Beijing, and the APP showed that there were 34 parking spaces with charging piles in the parking lot, and a large number of charging spaces were occupied by fuel vehicles. The reporter observed that there were 28 cars parked in the parking spaces for electric vehicles, of which only one or two electric vehicles were using charging piles for charging, and the rest were fuel vehicles with blue license plates. In addition, there were two tricycles parked in the parking spaces for electric vehicles. Among these fuel vehicles, only two had contact information for the owners to move the vehicles.

But isn’t it because there are no vacant ordinary parking spaces that fuel car owners have to choose parking spaces with charging piles? In fact, not necessarily. According to visual statistics by reporters, there are at least 40 vacant ordinary parking spaces in the parking lot. The reporter interviewed a car owner who parked his fuel car in the electric car parking space in the above-mentioned parking lot. She told the reporter that she works nearby and parks her car in this parking lot every day when she goes to work. She has also parked her car in the electric car parking space before. In addition, the parking space does not clearly indicate that only electric vehicles can be parked, and no staff pointed out that fuel vehicles cannot be parked here, so she did not realize that parking her car in the electric car parking space would cause inconvenience to others. The staff told reporters that since the parking spaces with charging piles are all outside the parking lot, it is easy to enter and exit, so it is naturally easy to be full.

At the same time, during the visit, the reporter found that although most charging piles can be used normally, there are still some charging piles that are damaged. In the underground parking lot of a shopping mall in Wangfujing, Beijing, the reporter found that a charging pile showed a fault and was under repair and could not be used. In another community parking lot, only 2 of the 8 charging piles in the community were able to be used normally.

Parking lot management loopholes

Parking lot staff also have difficulties. When parking spaces are tight and ordinary parking spaces are full, we cannot force owners of fuel vehicles not to park at charging piles. After all, there is a first come first served principle, and there is no reason to not allow others to park in the empty parking spaces with charging piles.

The opinions issued by Beijing clearly state that it is necessary to strengthen the guidance of classified parking for fuel vehicles and electric vehicles, and urge charging facility construction and operation companies to establish a regular inspection system for charging facilities. The construction of charging facilities in parking lots should be promoted in an orderly manner, and the daily use management of charging facilities should be strengthened. Complete charging facilities and signs and symbols for electric vehicle parking spaces should be set up in parking lots. The guidance of classified parking for fuel vehicles and electric vehicles should be strengthened. If fuel vehicles occupy parking spaces for electric vehicles, the local traffic management department should be notified in a timely manner to carry out law enforcement.

However, during the interview, the reporter found that most parking lots currently have almost no effect on the coordination of parking spaces and the occupation of fuel vehicles.

"Electric cars and fuel cars have to pay for parking, and the price is the same, except that electric cars need to pay electricity fees. But we don't collect this money, and it has nothing to do with us. If the owner of a fuel car insists on parking, we can't do anything about it." The staff of this parking lot said, "For example, when parking spaces are tight at night and ordinary parking spaces are full, we can't force owners of fuel cars not to park at charging piles. After all, there is a first-come-first-served principle, and it doesn't make sense to leave empty parking spaces for charging piles and not allow others to park."

The person in charge of another parking lot told China Business News that there are a large number of office buildings and residential communities near their parking lot, and the parking pressure is very high every day. "Basically, 80% to 90% of the parking spaces are full during the day and night, and there is no vacant parking space during peak hours. We will also coordinate the parking spaces for fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles, but during peak hours, most of the parking spaces will be filled up immediately after two or three spaces are vacated. For example, our parking lot is full, and an electric car just drove away after fully charging, but no one knows whether the next car to enter the parking lot will be an electric car. If it is not an electric car, we cannot drive them out. If there is a parking demand, we cannot insist on leaving the parking spaces for electric cars empty and not for fuel vehicles."

Private charging piles are difficult to install

According to relevant regulations, the installation of private charging piles also needs the consent of the property management. Many car owners are unable to install private charging piles because there is no property management or fixed parking spaces in the community. Some car owners are stuck at the property management level when installing private charging piles.

Sun Qian (pseudonym), a BYD electric car salesperson, told reporters that public charging piles for electric vehicles are not the main force for charging electric vehicles, and private charging piles are a stable and low-cost option. She did some calculations for the reporter. Charging piles are divided into two types: fast charging and slow charging, depending on direct current and alternating current. Assuming that slow charging takes 8 hours to fully charge, two kilowatt-hours per hour, the price of public charging piles is between 1 yuan and 2 yuan per kilowatt-hour. Using public charging piles requires paying about 20 yuan in electricity fees. In addition, most parking lots in downtown Beijing adopt a model where electricity and parking fees are paid separately. In addition to paying electricity fees, car owners also need to pay tens of yuan or even nearly 100 yuan in parking fees. In contrast, private charging piles generally enjoy basic electricity prices and will not be occupied. At present, most electric vehicles are promised to be given free private charging piles when they are sold.