Policies gradually become clearer, and three major driving forces help charging piles usher in new development

Author：DavisDate：2024-5-31

    After more than ten years of growth, my country's charging pile industry has entered a new period of opportunity. 

    In 2006, BYD built the first car charging station in Shenzhen, marking the beginning of China's charging pile industry. After more than ten years of growth, charging pile technology has developed in a diversified way and has been accelerated for various application scenarios. As of December 2023, there are 1.169 million AC charging piles in my country's public charging piles, accounting for 57.76%; 855,000 DC charging piles, accounting for 42.24%. From the perspective of the industrial chain, my country's charging pile industry has built a complete industrial chain with three links closely linked, namely upstream equipment components and parts, midstream charging piles, and downstream operators.

    At present, there are three major driving forces to help the charging pile industry grow rapidly: First, the electrification of automobiles has driven the high growth of charging demand. my country's new energy vehicles have developed rapidly, with the number of vehicles exceeding 13 million. Under the guidance of the "dual carbon" goal, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles will further increase, or reach 80% in 2030. However, as of 2023, the ratio of cars to piles in my country is 2.51:1, and the ratio of public cars to piles is 7.29:1. There is a structural problem of insufficient public charging piles, and there is still a large gap in public energy replenishment. In addition, with the continued growth of new energy vehicle ownership in the future, my country's charging pile market faces a prosperous market opportunity.

    Secondly, intensive policies have catalyzed the vigorous development of the industry. In May 2020, the government work report included charging piles in the "new infrastructure", indicating that the country has further increased its attention to the construction of charging infrastructure; in January 2022, the "Implementation Opinions on Further Improving the Service Guarantee Capability of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure" set clear goals for the development of the charging pile industry during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period; in addition, local government charging pile construction subsidies and charging operation subsidies related policies have been gradually introduced, which has helped the charging pile industry to develop more powerfully.

    Finally, the overseas business of charging pile business can be expected to escort the future. As of 2022, the public car-to-pile ratio in the United States exceeded 23:1, and the public car-to-pile ratio in Europe reached 15.23:1, and the construction of overseas car piles was seriously insufficient. Considering that the IEA expects global new energy vehicle sales to increase by 35% year-on-year in 2023, reaching 14 million vehicles, the demand for charging piles will further expand, and it is expected that charging piles will usher in a tenfold rapid growth in ten years. In addition, the profit elasticity of overseas export of charging piles is large. my country's charging pile companies can earn high gross profits by relying on domestic cost advantages and high prices in overseas markets. The first domestic charging pile companies to obtain overseas certification qualifications are expected to seize the opportunity and usher in broad opportunities for charging piles to go overseas.

    Great Wall Securities analysis pointed out that the "photovoltaic storage and charging integrated charging station" has the advantages of peak shaving and valley filling, effectively improving the operation efficiency of the power grid, remotely controlling charging piles, and improving operation and maintenance efficiency. It is a new business model under the background of the country's vigorous promotion of electric vehicles, the expansion of the charging pile market, and the inclusion of energy storage in major energy development projects. The "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)" and the "14th Five-Year Plan for Modern Energy System" and other policies have been introduced to support the development of "photovoltaic storage and charging integration", and encourage the promotion of pilot demonstrations of new charging and swapping stations combining "photovoltaic storage and swapping", which is conducive to promoting the industry to enter the stage of large-scale development.

    Charging piles, as an important way to replenish energy for new energy vehicles, are expected to gradually match the development speed of new energy vehicles. The whole-county promotion model is expected to continue, and the construction of charging piles in various provinces is expected to accelerate. In provinces with large charging pile market space, companies with strong competitiveness have greater growth potential.