The charging price of a charging pile in Shanghai rose from 1.15 yuan / degree to 2.15 yuan / degree, and the price of some brand charging piles in Anhui increased by 2.0 yuan / degree for two consecutive months... Recently, the charging price of charging piles of many brands in many places across the country has increased.

As of the end of June this year, the ownership of new energy vehicles in China has jumped to 6.1620 million. In August, national sales of new energy vehicles reached 8,84 units. Previously, due to the relative lag in the construction of charging piles, some new energy vehicle owners complained about the inconvenience of charging and did not dare to run long distances with confidence. In the past two years, the construction of charging infrastructure has accelerated, and from January to August this year, the increase in charging infrastructure was 6.1 million units, of which the increase in public charging piles reached 8,199 units.

The number of charging piles is large, why is the charging price increasing? Who are the main users affected by the price change? Will tram costs catch up with fuel vehicles? Our reporter conducted an interview.

The price of public charging piles has increased, and online car owners have been greatly affected

In the past summer electricity peak, many new energy ride-hailing drivers found that the price of public charging piles increased.

"Each kWh of electricity has increased by about 3 cents, and it costs 1 yuan more to charge once." Master Yao, a ride-hailing driver in Zhengzhou, Henan, said, "The price increase of each charging station is different, and the most expensive electricity is more than 10.1 yuan. ”

"During the peak period from 12 noon to 3 pm, the electricity per kWh rose from 1.5 yuan to 2 yuan." Master Cao, a Shanghai-hailing driver, said that a charge after a price increase during peak hours is almost 15 yuan more expensive.

Master Zhang, a Qingdao ride-hailing driver, also feels that charging is expensive: "After 8 o'clock in the morning, it usually costs 1 Mao to charge 8 kWh, and 1 kWh of electricity in expensive places exceeds 1 yuan, and it can be charged about 6 Mao before." ”

Wuhan charging prices also increased slightly. Master Li, a ride-hailing driver, said that at present, the charging price in some places in Wuhan has reached 1.5 yuan - 1.6 yuan / kWh. "Although each kWh of electricity has only increased by one or two cents, the cost of charging a charge has reached about 40 yuan."

In the face of price increases, many ride-hailing drivers choose to avoid charging during peak hours. "Everyone loves to recharge at night now. It costs about 40 yuan to fill a battery that requires 30 kWh at night, and 60 yuan or even 70 yuan at noon. Master Yao said.

At present, most residents charge through private charging piles built with vehicles, and the price increase is mainly public charging piles, which has little impact on self-use new energy vehicles. However, some new energy vehicle owners have found that the price of highway charging stations has increased. Mr. Li, a Guangzhou resident, likes to travel by car in Guangdong Province and often uses highway charging stations. "Recently, the price per kWh has risen from 1.7 yuan to 2 yuan."

How is the charging price structured? What part went up?

"This time the price increase, some are the price of electricity, and some are the service fee is rising." Liu Yongdong, deputy secretary-general of the China Electricity Council, told this reporter. The charging fee charged by the public charging pile includes two parts: the basic electricity fee and the service fee, which is implemented in accordance with the national grid standard, and the service fee is the main source of profit for the charging pile operator.

Let's look at the base electricity cost first. In May this year, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the Notice on Provincial Power Grid Transmission and Distribution Prices and Related Matters in the Third Regulatory Cycle, clarifying that from June 5, the electricity prices of users will gradually be classified into three categories: residential life, agricultural production, and industrial and commercial electricity (except for the implementation of residential life and agricultural production electricity prices). The charging price of public charging piles has been further regulated, and some charging stations are facing price pressure from higher prices.

Look at the service fee again. Since this summer, many public charging piles have raised their operating service fees. Liu Yongdong introduced that in 2014, the National Development and Reform Commission required the implementation of government guidance price management for electric vehicle charging and swapping service fees by 2020. In the early stage of new energy vehicles, a number of public charging pile operators attracted users at lower prices. With the formation of user habits, charging facilities have increased, and charging services have gradually become market-oriented. Public charging piles in popular areas often increase service fees during peak hours to obtain more profits.

The cost advantage of trams over fuel vehicles will continue

With the rising cost of charging, many consumers are worried that the cost advantage of new energy vehicles will disappear. "Although electricity prices and service fees have risen, in the long run, the cost of electric vehicles will not exceed that of fuel vehicles." Liu Yongdong believes.

It is understood that the rise in charging prices has also been affected to some extent by the peak period of summer electricity consumption. Tong Zongqi, deputy secretary-general of the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance, said that Shanghai, Guizhou, Chongqing, Sichuan and other provinces and cities have adjusted time-based electricity prices, and by July, a total of 7 provinces and cities had peak-to-valley electricity prices of more than 19.0 yuan, and a total of 7 provinces and cities had implemented peak electricity prices.

Time-of-use electricity price is to divide the day into 3 periods on average, namely valley, flat and peak. Electricity is cheap in the valley section and expensive in the peak section. Use this billing method to stimulate and encourage users to move peaks and fill valleys, and optimize electricity consumption. The peak electricity price refers to the implementation of the peak electricity price mechanism on the basis of the peak and valley electricity price, mainly based on the maximum load situation of the system to reasonably determine the peak period, and the peak electricity price is not less than 20% on the basis of the peak electricity price in principle.

"Rush hour doesn't happen every month, so electricity bills don't go up all the time." Tong Zongqi said. For example, Liaoning Province sets 1:7-8:12 in January, July, August and December as peak hours, and Shanghai sets 17:19-7:8 in July and August as peak hours, and implements peak electricity prices.

So, will the service fee go up all the way? In terms of operator service fees, the public charging piles on the market can be roughly divided into four categories, one is the charging piles built by car companies, such as Tesla, NIO, Li and other car companies have layouts, and such charging piles are partially open to the public; The second category is charging piles operated by enterprises such as special calls and star charging; The third category is charging piles operated by third-party charging service platforms such as energy chain and fast electricity; The fourth category is the charging pile laid by the State Grid. A number of car owners reported that in this price increase, the service fees of charging pile operators and third-party charging service platforms have increased. Expert analysis believes that with the intensification of competition, car owners have more choice, and the price increase of operator service fees is not much space, which will not have much impact on the overall cost of using cars.

Compared with fuel vehicles, domestic finished oil prices ushered in the tenth increase in the year. From 9:20 on September 24, the domestic gasoline per ton will be increased by 385 yuan and diesel by 370 yuan. Equivalent to the price increase, No. 92 gasoline will be increased by 0.3 yuan, No. 95 gasoline and No. 0 diesel will be increased by 0.32 yuan and 0.31 yuan respectively, and No. 95 gasoline will enter the "9 yuan era" in some areas.

Master Chen, a Beijing ride-hailing driver, calculated that the total cost of charging electricity twice a day is about 2 yuan, which can save more than 70 yuan compared with fuel vehicles. However, new energy ride-hailing owners generally say that the energy replenishment system should maintain a stable price so that users can replenish energy with peace of mind.

Around the market response, many places have regulated the price increase of charging piles. On July 7, the Zhengzhou Municipal Administration for Market Regulation issued a reminder letter for charging electric vehicle charging piles, requiring electric vehicle charging pile operators not to charge unspecified fees at a markup in addition to the listed price. The Development and Reform Commission of Shandong Province issued new regulations, refining the previous two electricity price periods in the peak section and valley section into four electricity price periods of deep valley, trough, peak and peak, and each period implements different electricity price standards.

The competition in the charging pile market has entered a new stage

The price increase has pushed the profitability of charging pile companies to the forefront. It is understood that the source of income of charging pile enterprises is mainly charging service fees and value-added services.

Liu Yongdong said that at present, the number of equipment manufacturers in China's charging service industry is large, and the market competition is fierce. "For charging operators, the higher the utilization rate of charging piles, the greater the profit margin. Generally speaking, the utilization rate must reach about 20% to achieve profitability. But at present, the average utilization rate of public charging piles in the country is less than 10%. Most of the relevant enterprises are facing operational difficulties. ”

The relevant person in charge of a charging station revealed that the construction cost is about 10,3 yuan per gun, including the charging service fee, charging price difference and other income, it will take at least 4 and a half years to achieve the return of the equipment. If rent, operation and maintenance, labor and other expenses are included, it takes at least <> years to achieve equipment cost recovery.

It is difficult for charging pile companies to make profits, and there is a single profit model behind it. At present, in addition to collecting operation service fees, some service providers also provide value-added services such as self-service car washing to enhance the revenue capacity of enterprises.

"China's electric vehicle market has entered a stage of development dominated by private cars. Relying on market pull, we must build a user-centered service system. Liu Yongdong said that in the past, users were concerned about the problem of "whether there is a place to charge", and the problem of "good or not" to be solved in the future was the problem. Some users are price sensitive, some hope to have a better charging environment, some hope to improve charging speed, charging operators should provide users with differentiated services to meet the charging needs of different car owners. At the same time, it is necessary to improve the reliability of charging equipment and improve the quality of related products, and also to achieve clear pricing, so that users have room to choose.

At present, China has built the world's largest number of charging infrastructure systems, the largest radiation area and the most complete service vehicles. According to data released by the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance, as of the end of June, more than 6.660 million charging piles of various types had been built nationwide, an increase of 69.8% year-on-year. However, the charging infrastructure has always had problems such as unreasonable layout and service that cannot keep up, and there are always cars queuing in front of some regional public charging piles, and some are less cared for. This also prompts public charging pile operators to deeply study the needs of vehicle owners, improve utilization rate, and improve service experience, rather than just adjusting prices.

Not long ago, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Guiding Opinions on Further Building a High-quality Charging Infrastructure System", proposing to further build a high-quality charging infrastructure system from the aspects of optimizing and improving the network layout, improving the level of operation services, and strengthening the leadership of scientific and technological innovation. According to the Guiding Opinions, by 2030, a high-quality charging infrastructure system with wide coverage, moderate scale, reasonable structure and perfect functions will be basically built, which will strongly support the development of the new energy vehicle industry and effectively meet the people's travel charging needs.

Xu Peiyu (Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition)