Ⅰ.Problems currently faced by charging piles
1.Difficulties in charging
As at the end of last year,the number of chargers reached 450,000,representing a year-on-year increase of 51%,but it was still far from being able to meet the charging demand for electric vehicles.Although the driving range of vehicles has increased,easing the problems in the charging process to some extent,the overall situation has not fundamentally changed,and the difficulty of charging remains prominent.
2.Low utilization rate
Currently,many cities have polarized utilization rates of public chargers in different regions.For example,in the same city,the utilization rate can reach 70%in some areas while being low in others.As of the end of 2017,the utilization rate of public chargers in China was less than 15%,and some charging stations even became"zombie"stations.Due to the"claiming territory"in the early stage,many companies did not consider market demand when building charging stations,focusing only on grabbing market share and expanding market share.Some chargers are installed in remote areas,even in fields,so the number of chargers is not as high as official statistics.
3.Imbalanced distribution
The selection of charger locations needs to consider factors such as passenger flow density and utilization rate,making public areas such as supermarkets,schools,hospitals,and tourist attractions the preferred locations for charging station companies.Most areas have a certain amount of construction,but the main areas are still in the Beijing-Tianjin region,the eastern coastal areas,the southeastern coastal areas,and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.The construction areas in the western and northern regions are relatively few.Statistical data shows that the utilization rate of chargers in urban areas such as Beijing,Shanghai,and Guangzhou reaches 70%,but the utilization rate in second and third-tier cities is low.In addition,some relevant companies operate in a dual-mode of equipment and operation,resulting in the waste of some resources and inadequate maintenance and repair.

II.Current Problems with the Construction of Chargers
1.Land
It is well known that there is a shortage of urban land supply at present.Constructing a large number of charging stations will occupy precious land resources.Many cities already lack sufficient land for planning and constructing charging stations.If we consider using urban green spaces for charging stations,this would contradict the premise of developing new energy vehicles.Additionally,the construction of charging stations itself requires suitable conditions such as water,electricity,and road accessibility,as well as level ground.The difficulty in selecting suitable locations for charging stations makes land availability a fatal factor,making large-scale centralized construction of charging stations impractical.
2.Cost
Constructing charging stations requires a significant amount of funding.For example,investments in charging stations by State Grid Corporation of China can consume over 100 million yuan,and the construction period is long.After investment,they have to face substantial initial losses.According to insiders from State Grid Corporation,almost none of the over 400 charging stations already built are profitable and are in a state of loss.Information from Southern Power Grid Corporation indicates that their 7 charging stations in operation in Shenzhen have an annual loss of 13 million yuan.Furthermore,charging stations require a large number of staff,leading to high operational costs,high labor costs,and low efficiency.
3.Service capability
Currently,due to limitations in the performance of power batteries,even fast charging requires 2-3 hours to fully charge a vehicle.Therefore,most charging stations are configured with a ratio of 1:3 or 1:4 chargers to vehicles.Even with 30 chargers per station,only 100 vehicles can be served.In reality,most charging stations have around 10 chargers,serving even fewer vehicles.On the other hand,a gas station of the same scale can serve thousands of vehicles per day.In order to support less than 100 vehicles,the utilization rate of building an entire charging station is extremely poor.
4.Convenience
In some public bus zones,vehicles need to go to charging stations for recharging after completing their routes,which adds complexity to the charging process.It is also easy to collide with charging station buildings or equipment while maneuvering vehicles,making the entire charging process very inconvenient.

III.Solutions to Charger Construction
1.Since there are numerous problems with traditional charger construction,a change in mindset is needed.Among the infrastructure of charging facilities,the most important equipment is the charger.One solution is to transform a charging station into several chargers for distributed construction.This way,the advantages of less land occupation,lower costs,and shorter construction periods can be fully utilized,avoiding the shortcomings of traditional charging station construction.
2.Currently,in the process of promoting new energy vehicles,the target customer groups are relatively fixed and mainly concentrated in public transportation areas,specific industries,and some private vehicles.Their operating patterns,usage habits,parking locations,and time are predictable.The construction of charging infrastructure should be closer to the users,meeting their needs by matching the locations of chargers according to user demand.For example,Tesla has adopted the destination charging model in its infrastructure construction,which makes the charging infrastructure layout closer to users and has proven effective.
3.Due to less influence from land factors,the distributed chargers construction model possesses strong flexibility in urban charging infrastructure planning.The layout of chargers can be adjusted according to changes in user demand.Even if chargers need to be relocated,it is much easier than moving an entire charging station.This also reflects the requirement of"portable chargers"mentioned in local government's new energy promotion plan to some extent.
4.The construction of distributed chargers should emphasize the concept of networks.In the initial stage,there may only be a few points,but as the number of users increases,the scale expands,and it evolves from point to area,forming a city-wide service network.This will be the future ecological structure of urban charging infrastructure.Of course,those who establish networks early,with larger scale and higher service levels,will occupy a dominant position in the future industry domain.
5.Due to the characteristics of unmanned operation and user self-service operation,distributed chargers require high security,user-friendly interface,intelligent services,and the configuration of monitoring platforms and operation and maintenance teams.These are important functions that a distributed charger network needs to have.
In the construction of charging infrastructure,we need to think innovatively and utilize limited resources to meet user demands.We should provide energy solutions from the perspective of users,transitioning from personalized needs to common needs.This will allow us to build a comprehensive urban charging service network.In this process,installing chargers can fulfill user demands without the need to invest excessive resources in the construction of idle charging stations.Therefore,we should avoid deviating from the main focus of charging infrastructure construction.Innovation,constantly launching more and better services,and building intelligent Chinese enterprises,are the achievements of smart entrepreneurs!