At present, there are more and more new energy vehicles. As pure electric vehicles’ new energy infrastructure, more and more charging piles have been established. Many companies and capital poured into the industry of charging.
The charging service market has formed a certain scale and structure. Industry of charging is developing rapidly, but not profitably. Due to the rapid expansion of the early period, low utilization rate of single pile and single mode factors, it is difficult to achieve large profit. Current electric vehicle Charging Pile industry has gradually entered in the dividend period.
1. Different Charging Methods
Electric vehicle charging methods can be divided into three types – charging pile, charging station and changing station.
- The charging pile generally adopts AC charging mode with rated power below 5 KW. The charging pile occupies less land and has less impact on the power grid when charging. It is conducive to extending the service life of the battery, especially the lithium cobalt acid battery. However, the charging pile is slow to charge, and is generally more suitable for use in a certain scale of residential areas, large public parking lots and large commercial center parking lots. In the future, charging will mainly depend on charging points distributed in residential and work areas. The user distribution density should be considered in the construction of charging pile.
- Charging station construction cost is high, and occupies a large area. The fast charging method has an effect on the life of the power battery. Charging stations also need to be equipped with harmonic processing facilities. Due to the high cost of construction, the popularization of charging stations takes a certain amount of time. And it requires careful planning and layout.
- Changing station is a new model based on the defects of fast charging stations. It uses a special replacement device to quickly replace the battery pack. The very short replacement time gives it an incomparable advantage. The difficulty is that the promotion of the power station requires a highly unified standard of vehicle power batteries, a popular battery rental system and a developed logistics network. A joint project between the Israeli and Danish governments to change power batteries at changing stations has been successful.
So which charging method should be chosen? It all depends. In terms of speed, the changing station has an incomparable advantage. However, the construction cost and later maintenance of the power station are much higher than that of the charging pile.
Elon Musk has said that the value of electric replacement technology in the future is not very large. From the aspect of charging efficiency and station construction cost, the operation of Tesla’s super charging pile is very successful, and it can fully meet people’s driving needs. Charging piles have greater advantages than changing stations.
2. Connectivity Increasing Utilization
Charging industry has realized the connectivity of electric cars, charging piles and operators. The efficiency of charging infrastructure has fully improved through the analysis of information data. EV charging pile realizes the information sharing between the pile and operators, through the owner’s information. And it ensures that the driver can find charging pile easily.
Through the exchange of information, the utilization rate of the single pile is improved and profited. This new business model realizes the balance between the vehicle energy and the power energy. The bidirectional charge and discharge with charging pile and the use of new energy electric vehicles as a mobile energy storage unit can meet the demand of the electric car.
At the same time, through the bidirectional-transmit electricity charging and discharging, the pile can transmit electricity to the grid. Given the role of renewable energy, the electric cars can adjust the electricity load and improve power quality. The grid and users get a win-win situation.
Through the development of intelligent technology, the elements of internet and 5G technologies are integrated into the charging industry. It develops multiple patterns and realizes value-added services. Such as during the charging process, the station can provide auto detection, car maintenance and other services.
By APP, mobile phone booking, online payment, charging and maintenance process can be fulfilled. Manufacturers and consumers gain the whole industry chain, and build comprehensive service ecosystem
3. Interworking of Charging Industry
Interworking of charging industry is the trend of the future. The interworking of information directly determines the utilization of the single pile. Future electric vehicle charging Pile between operators will break its status of development enclosure. Interworking will become the industry consensus.
With the rapid development of the charging market, many companies are pouring into charging pile industry. Manufacturers, life service platforms, travel companies, maps software companies and payment platforms have joined the layout of charging pile.
Future interworking of charging industry will be no longer limited to operators and the piles. It extends from charging pile itself to new energy vehicles in the whole industry chain. The new energy automotive industry, charging pile, travel service industry, and maintenance industry can achieve information data connectivity.
4. Coordination between Vehicles and the Grid
Vehicles and the grid need coordination. They can use car charging piles to realize the bidirectional charge and discharge from vehicle to grid. They can also use new energy electric vehicles as a highly flexible mobile energy storage unit. Charging pile of the bidirectional charge and discharge can adjust electricity load and improve power quality.
5. Intelligent Charging
Integration of many industries’ technologies and many scenes value-added services bring profit space to charging carriers. Charging pile has been concluded into new construction. There will be the big data infrastructure industry, 5G and other new technologies. At the same time, the charging pile has the property of intelligent internet of things. It can produce all kinds of cars and energy data.
And it also brings new profit model for charging pile industry and application scenarios. Future charging service network system will be more three-dimensional. Charging scheme will put the user experience at the center. With the improvement of the connectivity standard, the charging pile would become an “intelligent terminal” from a mere “outlet”.
The charging pile will not only be a battery interface, but also have the intelligent property of automatic driving, automatic recharge, and automatic parking. It may carry more humanized service function, or combined with entertainment facilities. As a result, it may become the most important node of wisdom city and vehicle network.
