Expressway charging volume across China reached a record high on the first day of the National Day holiday, driven by a continued surge in new energy vehicle (NEV) travel.
In response, local authorities deployed infrastructure upgrades and real-time traffic diversion to reduce queue times at service areas.
The seven-day National Day holiday began on Thursday, marking the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
At the Shahe service area of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway in north China's Hebei Province, the charging volume for southbound NEVs approached 16,000 kilowatt-hours on day one of the holiday, surging nearly five times compared to normal levels.
To cope with the peak, local power departments have upgraded 210 charging guns to superchargers across the province and coordinated mobile charging piles to support busy areas at any time.
"We have issued travel guides in advance and collaborated with traffic radio stations to efficiently divert traffic in real-time, helping drivers charge their vehicles quickly and enhancing their charging experience," said Wen Bo, a charging operations and maintenance official at State Grid Hebei Electric Vehicle Service Co.
Similar bustling scenes were observed in east China's Anhui Province. At the Fengle service area along the Beijing-Taipei Expressway (G3), one of the province's busiest, over 1,400 NEVs were charged on Oct. 1 alone, leading to a massive spike in local power demand.
"On October 1, the maximum load of charging piles at the entire Fengle service area reached 5,360 kilowatts. The daily power consumption stood at 47,800 kilowatt-hours, representing an overall year-on-year increase of 217 percent," said Shen Pan, deputy general manager of State Grid Feixi County Power Supply Company.
To manage the massive influx of vehicles, all staff at expressway service areas across Anhui were on duty, utilizing scientific on-site scheduling strategies to optimize the distribution of charging resources.
"We implemented on-site guidance and tidal traffic diversion. We also open underpasses at appropriate times to guide vehicles to idle charging piles at the opposite service area, ensuring that cars do not crowd on one side," said Qian Yin, deputy general manager of the operating company of Yida Group under Anhui Transportation Holding Group.
October 5 and 6, the fifth and sixth days of the holiday, will mark the return travel peak, when there will be another surge in the number of vehicles charging on expressways.
China sees record expressway EV charging volume amid National Day holiday
