Shanghai has been at the epicenter of the nation's electric car frenzy. The Expo Electric Vehicle pilot zone project has just been launched in the city, aimed at bringing more charging towers to promote the e-vehicle market.
10 public electric vehicle pillars have already been installed by State Grid Shanghai in this 5 square kilometer pilot zone. A total of 50 charging sites will be built to cover the expo park axis, the SOE complex and the green valley area. BMW will also offer three BMW i3 electric cars to offer a test drive experience.
"Here we have installed the first charging sites for all cars, not only the BMW, every electric car can be charged here and that’s a major step for the Expo area." Karsten Engel, president & CEO of BMW Group, China Region, said.
China offers a big attraction for the electric car market. The government wants 500,000 new energy vehicles on road by the end of 2015. But as of 2013, there were only 17 thousand. A lack of charging sites remains the major obstacles.
"Electric cars have to develop along with the charging network. We believe that the market for private electric cars will grow when the charging facilities are easily accessible, when battery endurance keeps growing, and when the functions of the cars are more advanced." Bao Weiguo, General Manager of Potevio New Energy (Shanghai) Co., Ltd,said.
Bao’s company Potevio , owned by the central government, has now built some 50 charging sites across the city. Their focus is public transportation hubs, shopping centers, restaurants, and entertainment areas. State Grid Shanghai plans for more in the coming year.
"In 2015, we will build 51 new public charging stations, which will bring the total to 97. This should help Shanghai to meet the goal of having 13 thousand electric vehicles on the road.” Du Cehnggang, section manager of State Grid Shanghai, said.
To encourage the installation of charging pillars, the State Grid electricity corporation announced non-state-owned companies will now be allowed to build electric car charging facilities. Investment in charging sites nationwide will amount to more than 60 billion yuan in 2014 and 2015. Last year, there were only 19 thousand charging pillars in the country, but by 2015, 100 thousand are to be alongside the road, pushing that goal of having 500 thousand electric vehicles in China.