Guidelines for Building High-Power Charging Facilities Released

On July 7, 2025, the National Development and Reform Commission published a notification regarding the scientific planning and construction of high-power charging facilities. According to the notification, local areas must prioritize construction plans for charging facilities at highway service areas and implement high-power upgrades for facilities with over 40% utilization during major holidays. By the end of 2027, the goal is to have more than 100,000 high-power charging facilities nationwide, with upgrades in service quality and technology applications. The notification also states that high-power charging networks built by new energy vehicle companies should generally be open to all users. This initiative, jointly released by four government departments, addresses the 'last mile' issue in the popularization of new energy vehicles, aiming to enhance the charging experience to match the efficiency of refueling traditional fuel vehicles through a combination of technology upgrades, targeted infrastructure, and grid collaboration. The concept of 'smart orderly charging stations' is introduced, which will utilize price signals to guide charging during off-peak hours and allow the integration of photovoltaic and energy storage facilities to reduce pressure on the power grid. The notification encourages a leasing period of at least 10 years for charging stations and proposes special local government bonds to stabilize investment expectations. Charging operators are urged to accelerate the establishment of intelligent operation and maintenance platforms to record fault data during high-power charging and enhance monitoring and troubleshooting capabilities, aiming for an equipment availability rate of no less than 98%. Furthermore, charging operators should strengthen equipment procurement management to ensure compliance with quality standards. The push for high-power charging facilities is driven by the rapid growth of new energy vehicles in China, which reached 31.4 million by the end of 2024, accounting for 8.9% of the total number of vehicles. The number of newly registered new energy vehicles in 2024 was 11.25 million, an increase of 3.82 million from 2023, reflecting a growth rate of 51.49%. In the first five months of this year, production and sales of new energy vehicles also continued to grow rapidly, with 5.7 million produced and 5.61 million sold, representing year-on-year increases of 45.2% and 44%, respectively. As of May 2025, the total number of charging facilities in China reached 14.4 million, but the market is currently dominated by low-power options, with insufficient penetration of fast charging and the emergence of ultra-fast charging. With several mainstream manufacturers launching 800V high-voltage platform vehicles, the industry urgently needs high-power charging facilities to alleviate 'range anxiety.' Data from the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance shows that GAC Aion leads in the number of self-built fast charging stations with 13,659, while Tesla, NIO, and Volkswagen’s fast charging stations exceed 10,000 each. The notification underscores that high-power charging networks built by new energy vehicle companies should ideally be open to all users. In the first half of this year, charging has become a competitive battlefield for new energy vehicles. Li Auto recently announced that by June 30, 2025, it had surpassed 15,000 high-power supercharging stations, with plans to reach 4,000 supercharging stations by the end of the year. NIO is also accelerating the construction of its battery swap stations, announcing the upcoming completion of its 1,000th battery swap station on highways, connecting 550 cities across the country.