The expressway charging volume in China has reached a record high since the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush began on Feb 2, as charging services are undergoing smart upgrades to accommodate the continued surge in new energy vehicle (NEV) travel.
Data from the State Grid Smart Internet of Vehicles platform shows that from Feb 2 to Feb 14, the charging volume on expressways reached 68.5576 million kilowatt-hours, up 17.34 percent year on year compared with the same period of the previous lunar year, with 2.7353 million charging sessions recorded, an increase of 15.06 percent.
Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, and Henan emerged as the top five provinces for charging volume. The busiest routes for NEV power demand included the Changchun-Shenzhen, Shanghai-Kunming, Shenyang-Haikou, Daqing-Guangzhou, and Beijing-Kunming expressways.
As demand spikes, the charging infrastructure is evolving through technological innovation, moving toward integrated energy solutions.
In Suzhou City of east China's Anhui Province, a newly built integrated energy demonstration station combining photovoltaic power generation, energy storage and ultra-fast charging has recently been put into operation. The station is equipped with two sets of 400-kilowatt flexible shared superchargers and 16 ultra-fast charging parking spaces. Its liquid-cooled supercharging terminals can deliver a maximum output of up to 600 kilowatts per gun, effectively meeting the sharp increase in charging demand during the Spring Festival period.
At a service area along the Linhai section of the Taizhou-Jinhua Expressway, 10 supercharging piles were put into operation ahead of the Spring Festival. So far, the State Grid Taizhou Power Supply Company has built six charging stations and installed 78 charging piles in expressway service areas within its jurisdiction, forming a "30-minute charging circle" covering major transport arteries and further enhancing charging service capacity along the road network.
On the G20 Qingdao-Yinchuan Expressway, where average daily traffic is expected to exceed 100,000 vehicles during the nine-day Spring Festival holiday, power authorities have upgraded eight charging piles at the Zouping West service area with smart systems that can automatically balance output power, improving charging efficiency by about 30 percent compared with previous facilities.
"We rely on an intelligent platform combined with drone inspections to continuously enhance charging support capacity, ensuring NEV owners can start their journey with a full charge and return home safely during the Spring Festival travel rush," said Gong Xingyu, a staff member of State Grid Binzhou Power Supply Company in east China's Shandong Province.
NEV charging across China hits record high during Spring Festival travel rush
