China building more EV charging and battery swap stations in Beijing and other cities
08 January 2011
People’s Daily. State Grid Corp. of China (SGCC) plans to build more electric charging stations in Beijing and several other cities this year to meet rising demand for electric vehicles.
The country’s dominant electric power transmission company will build a network of charging stations in Beijing, Tianjin, Hefei and Nanchang this year, the Beijing News quoted SGCC general manager Liu Zhenya as saying.
The major service of the stations will be providing batteries that are already recharged, Liu said at the company’s annual work meeting in Beijing...He said the batteries will be mostly charged at night, and used batteries will be recycled by SGCC.
Excellent news. If China goes at vehicle electrification with the same speed, determination and energy as it did for high speed e-trains and subways, they could be ahead of everybody by the end of the current decade.
Posted by: HarveyD | 08 January 2011 at 09:19 AM
I seem to remember, but can't find, an article on GCC about someone in China backing off BEVs because the recharging infrastructure wasn't yet up to it.
I wonder, is this a response to that?
Posted by: ai_vin | 08 January 2011 at 09:28 PM
You might try Kani Industries (KNDI stock symbol). Their approach is to separate the battery business from the car business by setting up battery switch out stations as a totally separate industy. The cost is $6, the range is about 100 miles for the cars and it only takes a few minutes to change out the batteries. The cars cost $6,000.
Posted by: johnh | 09 January 2011 at 10:11 AM
Project Better Place has the same idea; http://www.betterplace.com/
Posted by: ai_vin | 09 January 2011 at 10:25 AM
There may be battery swap and quick charging but with the few cars on the road able to do that, the reduction in imported oil will be small. It is worth doing, but the magnitude of the situation calls for more effective action.
Posted by: SJC | 09 January 2011 at 12:57 PM
Here's an idea for "effective action":
We currently are spending $80 billion per month in Iraq and Afghanistan for oil and a gas pipeline. Basically a giveaway to oil corporations and military contractors.
For $80 B you could build the infrastructure to employ 80,000 at recharging stations and give away 5 million of the Kandi cars. That's one month's worth of nonsense in the mid-east.
Posted by: johnh | 09 January 2011 at 01:33 PM
johnh has it right. Another month could provide health care for Americans, as other industrial nations do to protect their citizens from death. Another month for affordable higher education. Another month to pay down debt.. etc
America WON the Cold war and should be enjoying 20 years of peace dividends, not spending trillions occupying other countries while racing to bankruptcy.
Posted by: kelly | 09 January 2011 at 02:18 PM
We COULD do lots of stuff, but the realistic probabilities of what might actually occur are all that really count, unless you live in a fantasy world.
Posted by: SJC | 09 January 2011 at 03:40 PM
In history, the world's only remaining superpower unable to protect it's own citizens health or seal it's own southern border, yet spending itself bankrupt through overseas invasions and country occupations IS living in a fantasy world.
Posted by: kelly | 09 January 2011 at 06:08 PM
True that military adventurism has in the past and will in future collapse a nation. One must wonder what is the allure in Afghanistan? Is it really a strategic locale? Or is there a resource exclusive to the region that is stupefyingly lucrative?
Why is China even bothering to build charge stations? They have ZERO EVs for sale and NONE in the works. Where is the Chinese-designed and built EV?? Where?? Hello CCP??
Posted by: Reel$$ | 10 January 2011 at 08:17 PM
Silly me. GM is building China's EV:
http://tinyurl.com/4namzc7
Posted by: Reel$$ | 11 January 2011 at 08:29 AM
"Why is China even bothering to build charge stations? They have ZERO EVs for sale and NONE in the works. Where is the Chinese-designed and built EV?? Where?? Hello CCP??" ???
Google 'china ev' - About 25,300,000 results (0.22 seconds) ex: http://www.duke.edu/~cy42/EV.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYD_F3DM ..
Posted by: kelly | 11 January 2011 at 10:22 AM
We have a situation where the corporations do what is right for them and who does what is right for everyone? I have heard the idea expressed that if everyone just takes care of their own situation then everything will be fine.
I think we really need to examine that statement and see if it is what we are looking for. When the effort and coordination are greater than the sum of the parts, we all gain. Maybe it is well past the time that we realize and act upon that.
Posted by: SJC | 11 January 2011 at 12:04 PM
kelly, your link does not work but from the text it looks like you are referring to the BYD F3DM - the car that is helping tank BYD stock and profits, that has sold a whopping 18 (that's EIGHTEEN) units in China!
http://www.caradvice.com.au/94220/byd-f3e-ev-production-plans-abandoned/
BYD has killed their EV program and essentially given up on the F3DM which was a dual mode hybrid. The point is the CCP should be more responsible about mandating electric vehicles since they have a serious air pollution problem and face the same peak oil issue the rest of the world does.
Posted by: Reel$$ | 12 January 2011 at 06:49 PM
Reel$$, most of the 25,300,000 results work. A hundred MILLION electric bikes used for personal transportation for a decade in China is far from "..ZERO EVs for sale and NONE in the works.."
Even your link references ".. like the BYD F3DM plug-in hybrid, launched in 2008", which is driven on US streets - http://evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=24690
Dozens of other China car makers (Chery, SAIC, Yangzhou Dawn, ..) manufacture EVs. http://www.alibaba.com/products/ev_car/CN--100002872------------296-213,6-5574.html
Posted by: kelly | 13 January 2011 at 11:48 AM