Do new energy vehicles still have advantages?, Double increase in electricity prices and service fees | New energy | New energy vehicles
Recently, the rise in charging prices for public charging stations in multiple regions has sparked heated discussions. Since July, the charging prices of multiple brands of charging stations in Zhengzhou, Shanghai, Qingdao, Chongqing and other places have increased, ranging from 10% to double.
A new energy vehicle owner in Shanghai stated that at the same location and time period, the price of charging a charging station used to be 1.15 yuan per kilowatt hour, but now it has risen to 2.15 yuan per kilowatt hour, an increase of 87%. In addition to Shanghai, some brands of charging stations in Anhui have seen two consecutive price increases of 0.2 yuan in June and July, and the cost of charging stations for some brands in Qingdao has also increased by 10% to 20%
Due to the price increase of new energy charging stations in many places, many electric car owners and newcomers who are about to purchase have expressed concerns: will the cost of electric car use catch up with gasoline cars? Will electricity prices continue to rise? Recently, many reporters from Chao News conducted interviews in an attempt to restore the truth about the price increase of new energy charging stations.
The increase ranges from 10% to double,
Why has the price of new energy charging stations increased?
To understand why the prices of new energy charging stations have increased, the first thing to clarify is that charging prices are composed of two parts: electricity and service fees. The reasons for the price increase are simply the increase in electricity prices, the increase in charging station service fees, or both.
After finishing work at noon every day, Shanghai taxi drivers will go to the nearest charging station to charge. Starting from July, he felt a significant increase in noon electricity prices, directly rising from 1.15 yuan to 1.9 yuan. His charging order on July 2nd showed that he charged 27.57 kWh and spent 40 yuan with a 10 yuan subsidy. Previously, he only spent 26 yuan while charging at 34.88 degrees Celsius. "The charging price of charging stations has suddenly doubled, with an increase of about 1 yuan per kilowatt hour."
A customer service representative from a star charging station in Shanghai told Chao News reporters that charging stations use time of use electricity prices. The reason why drivers in Shanghai feel a significant price increase is because the city implemented four periods of electricity prices from July to September this year, namely "peak and flat valley". On the basis of the original "peak and flat valley" periods, the period from 12:00 to 14:00 is divided into "peak hour", during which the electricity price is the highest. "To avoid tight power loads, it is recommended that drivers choose preferential time periods and staggered charging."
According to Xiaosi's description, for the past month, after 3:00 pm every day, which is "normal", the entire charging station has been filled with taxis and ride hailing services, "staged" a battle for charging stations, and some drivers even have to wait in line for more than half an hour.
"With the increase of charging volume during a certain period of time, the operation and maintenance costs invested are high, and the service fees are high." The customer service of Shanghai Jike New Energy Vehicle Charging Station told Chao News reporters that recently, there has been a varying degree of increase in the electricity and service fees of charging stations.
The electricity price of a charging station in Shanghai during each time period provided by respondents
Lao Guo, a taxi driver from Zhengzhou, usually charges during the "normal" electricity price period of 16 o'clock. Starting from late July, he also felt the increase in charging fees. "The electricity price has increased by 20 cents per kilowatt hour, with a charge of over 40 kilowatt hours per charge, which costs about 30 yuan, an increase of about one-third." Lao Guo said, and many colleagues also said that compared to the cheapest "late night time" on weekdays, the charging cost after the price increase has nearly doubled.
"The greater increase in charging prices in Zhengzhou may be due to the previous fierce price war." Old Wang, who has worked at a new energy charging station for three years, told Chao News reporters that large charging stations have been classified as industrial electricity, and operators cannot adjust electricity prices. Only by raising service fees can they recover costs or losses to a certain extent. "Venue rent, equipment maintenance, and station construction all require a large amount of investment." In the charging station where Lao Wang is located, the cost of sharing all costs equally to a charging station is about 100000 yuan, and it will take three years to recover the cost.
"From the perspective of commercial operation, the construction and maintenance investment of charging facilities is relatively large. During the operation process, as the charging volume increases, it is also necessary to consider adjusting service fees to better ensure the quality of charging services and achieve investment returns as soon as possible." Professor Wang Ning from the School of Automotive Engineering at Tongji University told Chao News reporters.
Based on experience, Lao Wang believes that factors that affect service fees also include: local subsidies for charging station construction; Price alliance between operators; Are there any disruptive operators in the local city.
Behind the increase in service fees,
What is the solution to the dilemma in the charging pile industry?
Since 2015, new energy vehicle public charging stations have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, and charging station operators have entered the market one after another. "1 cent charging" and "0 service fee"... In 2021, charging station merchants launched a money burning battle to compete for new energy vehicle owners. In a situation where electricity costs are evenly distributed, lowering service fees has become a competitive means for various brands of charging stations to attract users.
Taking Zhengzhou as an example, in 2022, more than 1600 new energy charging stations, over 28000 public charging stations, and over 250000 new energy vehicles have been built in Zhengzhou, which is higher than the national average. According to local media reports in Henan, the public charging stations within the Fourth Ring Road in Zhengzhou City are basically in a saturated state. Starting from the first half of 2022, in order to compete for customers, charging pile companies in Zhengzhou have entered a stage of fierce competition and competition to reduce service fees. Even the lowest service fee per kilowatt hour has been lowered to a few cents, while the current service fee ranges from 30 cents to 50 cents.
"Most charging station operators are currently in a loss making state, with only a few top companies supporting their charging station operations through other profitable businesses," said Zhang Xiang, a researcher at the Automotive Industry Innovation Research Center of Northern Polytechnical University, in an interview with China News Agency.
Behind the rise in service fees may be the difficulties faced by charging station operators. As one of the giants in the domestic public charging pile industry, TeDianDian's net profit after deduction from 2019 to 2021 was -165 million yuan, -269 million yuan, and -135 million yuan, respectively, with losses for three consecutive years; From 2020 to 2022, A-share listed company Otsu's net profit attributable to the parent company was RMB 06 million, RMB 0.33 billion, and RMB 0.4 billion, respectively. Not only did the profit turn into loss, but the loss also expanded.
However, facing the vast market of the charging pile industry, even if losses continue, charging pile operating companies are still increasing their layout efforts, and the number of charging piles is rapidly increasing.
According to the data released by the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance, from January to June this year, the increase in China's charging infrastructure was 1.442 million units, including 351000 public charging piles and 65000 units in June, a year-on-year increase of 40.6%.
As of June this year, the total number of charging infrastructure in China was 6.652 million, including 2.149 million public piles. There are 16.2 million new energy vehicles in China, with a total pile to vehicle ratio of 1:2.44 and a public pile to vehicle ratio of 1:7.54. According to third-party organizations, the number of new energy vehicles in China is expected to reach 64.2 million by 2030. With a 1:1 pile to vehicle ratio target, there is still huge room for the charging pile market.
So, in order to promote the healthy development of the charging station industry, how should we layout charging facilities? How can we solve the problems of rising prices of charging stations and higher costs for car owners, in order to solve the difficulties in the charging station industry?
Zhang Xiang suggests that reducing costs and strengthening supervision are effective ways to solve the problem of expensive charging. To reduce the cost of charging stations, measures such as reducing electricity and parking fees, and offering preferential rent should be taken. Relevant departments should also introduce favorable policies to support the development of the new energy vehicle and charging station industry. The problem of charging costs for new energy vehicles needs to be solved through multi-party cooperation, providing support for the sustainable development of the new energy vehicle industry.
Wang Ning believes that on the one hand, car owners should choose to charge during non peak hours as much as possible; On the other hand, can the government find more scientific and efficient strategies and methods to promote infrastructure layout and planning construction, better layout charging facilities, improve the utilization rate of charging facilities, effectively control electricity costs, and solve the problem of charging pile price increases from both supply and demand sides. "In the future, it is necessary to utilize big data and intelligent regulation technology to achieve intelligent interaction between electric vehicles and energy networks, and better support the development of electric vehicles."
Some people say that the cost of electric cars is catching up with that of gasoline cars, as citizens use charging piles,
Will new energy vehicles still be fragrant?
Someone claims on social media that the cost of using new energy vehicles is accelerating to catch up with gasoline vehicles. Will anyone still choose electric cars? Mr. Qi, who is preparing to purchase new energy vehicles, said that this statement is somewhat "creating anxiety".
He calculated that the electricity price is 1.2 yuan per kilowatt hour, the oil price is 7.88 yuan per liter for 92 octane gasoline, and a new energy vehicle costs 1.5 to 20 cents per kilometer, while a gasoline vehicle costs 50 to 60 cents per kilometer. When the electricity cost increases from 1.5 yuan to 4.5 yuan per kilowatt hour, the cost of using a new energy vehicle will exceed that of a gasoline vehicle. The highest electricity price in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen is currently around 2 yuan, which is not the common price for charging stations. It is impossible for electricity prices to exceed oil prices in the short term.
"If the electricity price is 1.5 yuan per kilowatt hour, new energy vehicles will cost 30 yuan per 100 kilometers, while gasoline vehicles with 92 octane gasoline will consume about twice as much energy per 100 kilometers as electric cars." Wang Ning also said that from the perspective of usage cost, electric vehicles still have certain advantages. With the rapid and large-scale popularization of electric vehicles, the electricity price will not increase excessively, so there is no need to worry about charging cost increases.
Some people also believe that the price increase of charging stations is due to companies feeling that it is time to "cut the leek". An industry insider who has been researching the new energy vehicle industry for a long time said, "With the current scale of new energy vehicle ownership, it is not yet time for charging pile enterprises and charging stations to earn profits by raising prices. Now, it is necessary to attract people to purchase electric vehicles."
Li Chunlin, Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, revealed on July 31 that in the first half of this year, the production and sales, market share, and ownership of new energy vehicles all reached historic highs. Seven years later, it is conservatively estimated that the number of new energy vehicles will reach 64.2 million. "Before the ownership increases and the equipment is upgraded, the electricity price of new energy vehicles will not synchronize with the oil price." Lao Wang believes that in addition, compared with traditional fuel vehicles, new energy vehicles still have overwhelming advantages.
"New energy vehicles have discounts, low prices, and are easy to license plate; they are not restricted by travel policies and have more convenient travel advantages; new energy vehicles have a high degree of intelligence and rich vehicle computer interconnection systems." Mr. Qi said that new energy vehicles have advantages that gasoline vehicles do not have, making them the first choice for young people to commute.
In June of this year, the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Taxation, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a notice clarifying that the policy of reducing and exempting the purchase tax on new energy vehicles will be extended for another four years, until December 31, 2027. The "dividend" of purchasing new energy vehicles is still being continuously spread. With strong policy support, many consumers will take advantage of the policy to choose new energy vehicles.
