As of end-June 2026, national charging facilities reached 23.057 million units, up 43.2% YoY, with a car-to-pile ratio approaching 2:1. Yet behind the impressive numbers, public charging pile additions plummeted 43.5% YoY in H1, and leading operators net just 0.04 yuan per kWh. The charging industry is transitioning from "availability" to "quality."
23 Million Units: The Good and the Bad
As of end-June 2026, national charging facilities totaled 23.057 million units, up 43.2% YoY. The national car-to-pile ratio approached 2:1. These numbers look impressive, but the industry is not celebrating.
The problem lies in structure.
Structural Imbalance: Private Piles Dominate, Public Piles Scarce
Breaking down the 23.057 million figure reveals the contradiction:
In H1 2026, charging infrastructure added 2.965 million units, but growth slowed 9.7% YoY. More critically, public charging facilities added just 292,000 units—a 43.5% plunge YoY; private installations jumped to 2.673 million. Growth was largely "locked" behind private parking spaces.
This creates two direct consequences:
First, public charging resources remain tight. The 2:1 national ratio includes private piles. Strip those away, and the public sector ratio approaches 10:1. Holiday highway charging queues persist—during this year's May Day holiday, wait times exceeded 2 hours.
Second, operators are broadly unprofitable. Per CCTV's "Economic Half-Hour," leading operators net just 0.04 yuan per kWh. From small private players to state giants, almost no one profits from this chaotic price war.
Three Core Pain Points
Pain Point 1: Public Pile Layout Imbalance
Public charging piles are severely unevenly distributed. First-tier city cores have decent density, but second and third-tier cities, counties, and highways still have major gaps.
Pain Point 2: Rigid Business Model
Core revenue still relies on electricity price spreads + service fees. As electricity market reform advances and competition intensifies, profit margins are continuously compressed.
Pain Point 3: Non-Unified Technical Standards
Despite gradual fast-charging standard unification, compatibility and payment interoperability issues persist.
Breaking the Deadlock: From Scale to Quality
The charging industry is transitioning from "scale expansion" to "quality improvement." Future directions include:
- PV-Storage-Charging Integration: Combining solar, storage, and charging to reduce costs
- V2G Vehicle-Grid Interaction: EVs as distributed storage units feeding power back to grid
- Smart Dispatch Optimization: Using big data and AI to optimize charger utilization
- Community Sharing Models: Unlocking private charger idle time
Huawei, TELD, and Star Charge have begun deploying PV-storage-charging integrated stations. Industry forecasts suggest by 2027, stations with storage capabilities will rise from under 5% to over 20%.
For emerging market charging infrastructure builders in Central Asia and Russia, Chinese experience offers both valuable reference and lessons. Visit EX1000.COM for more on China's NEV infrastructure developments.
