
China builds world’s largest EV charging network with 167,000 stations - prostoalex
http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0906/c90000-9265487.html
======
refurb
I didn't know the China gov't new agency had such an online presence (and in
English).

Their "recommended reading" includes an article titles "The miracle called
Communist Party of China"[1] written by the Chief Minister of Punjab Province,
Pakistan.

 _The CPC defies conventional wisdom and logic pertaining to political
outfits. This dizzying pace of transformation defies logic, for this was done
in barely a few decades and only could have happened because a robust body
like the Chinese Communist Party stood behind the strategy._

[1][http://en.people.cn/n3/2016/0711/c90000-9084277.html](http://en.people.cn/n3/2016/0711/c90000-9084277.html)

~~~
chrischen
Their progress is probably owed to authoritarianism more than anything else.
South Korea. Taiwan were also basically dictatorships for much of their
growth.

Whether or not communism is good or bad is basically defined by whether or not
the country is US-friendly.

~~~
flamedoge
Probably had to do with a smart dictator. There are lots of examples of bad
authoritarians.

~~~
Iv
Thing is, China does not have __one __dictator. The prime minister changes
regularly and his ability to cling to power is limited by opaque (but
apparently efficient) check and balances at the top level of the PCC.

I tried to read more about it two years ago and was surprised to see academics
complaining about the lack of a political science model of the Chinese
government (apart from the one provided by the PCC propaganda). In one word:
we don't know how it works.

~~~
nindalf
It's been a stable system since Deng stepped down but the word is that Xi
Jinping is trying to mess with that. He's purging the Party of people not
personally loyal to him so he might be considering staying on for a third
term.

~~~
Iv
Do you have sources on that? I'd like to read more about it.

~~~
nindalf
Since the 1980s only 2 Politburo members have been purged. The first was Bo
Xilai in 2002, Xi Jinping's main rival for the top job. The second was Sun
Zhengcai, in July. He was being groomed as a successor to Xi Jinping. This
purge prompted speculation that Xi would prefer no successor at all.

Source - [https://www.economist.com/news/china/21725338-would-he-
prefe...](https://www.economist.com/news/china/21725338-would-he-prefer-have-
no-heirs-apparent-potential-successor-xi-jinping-purged)

~~~
Iv
Was there really suspicion that Bo Xilai trial was political? I got the
impression that he could be judged _despite_ his political influence. For
murdering a British journalist nonetheless, which proved him to be at the head
of a crime organization. Are there elements that indicate this is a total set-
up?

Sun is Bo's successor in the same province. When you remove the leader of a
crime ring, the ring still exists. I think that these accusations are pretty
credible. 2 members in 15 years, in a country that's supposed to be struggling
with corruption, that's nor something that looks that unusual.

------
Animats
_A total of 167,000 charging piles have now been connected to the telematics
platform of the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), making it the world’s
largest electric vehicle (EV) charging network._

This is about the billing system. That's what they mean by "the telematics
platform of the SGCC". The key point here is that China's electric car
charging infrastructure is being standardized.[1] Unlike in the US, the
standardization includes the billing system and the system by which cars and
customers identify to the charging station.[1]

[1]
[https://www2.unece.org/wiki/download/attachments/12058681/EV...](https://www2.unece.org/wiki/download/attachments/12058681/EVE-07-14e.pdf)

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United857
Unfortunately much (> 60%) of China's electricity comes from dirty sources
(largely coal). Until this is fixed, the environmental benefits of EVs there
will be limited.

~~~
aphextron
>Unfortunately much (> 60%) of China's electricity comes from dirty sources
(largely coal). Until this is fixed, the environmental benefits of EVs there
will be limited.

True, but with China it never helps much to look at where they are
instantaneously. It's all about the rate of change. They are _extremely_
aggressive with their renewables goals. Far beyond the US or EU.

~~~
harigov
It makes a lot of economic sense for them, even more so than other countries
because they don't have that much oil resources. Same with India. Not to
negate the fact that China is in general very aggressive in working towards
their goals.

~~~
melling
China has 20 nuclear plants under construction:

[http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2107354/china...](http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2107354/china-
pips-us-race-start-worlds-most-advanced-nuclear-power-plant)

The new AP1000s are almost done. Hopefully they get the costs under control so
they can build 100 of them.

Bill Gates’ Terrapower is developing the next gen plants in China:

[https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2015/10/02/bill-
gate...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2015/10/02/bill-gates-forges-
nuclear-deal-with-china/)

------
matt_wulfeck
Having just purchased an EV, I can see the biggest need is at the office and
at home. Even at home there are barriers: an evse is expensive to purchase and
install, electricity costs are high ($0.29kwh non-peak in San Jose), so it's
actually more expensive to take our Leaf than our gasoline car on most days.

Saving grace is being able to charge for free or discounted at work.

~~~
b_emery
You must have an efficient gas car! This [1] suggest the leaf uses 34 kwh per
100 miles, or about $10 at your cost per kwh. To cost less than this, with gas
at, what $3/gallon? Your gas car needs better than 30 mpg.

[1] [http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1082737_electric-car-
eff...](http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1082737_electric-car-efficiency-
forget-mpge-it-should-be-miles-kwh)

~~~
spiznnx
If you have a plug-in hybrid, you often have the choice between gas and
electric, without even using a different car. Hybrids easily beat 30mpg.

For example, the Volt is capable of 48 mpg with no charging on gas only. On
electric only with no gas, it does 31 kWh/100miles.

~~~
timthorn
> On electric only with no gas, it does 31 kWh/100miles.

Of course, that depends upon the weather. I get 30% better range in the Summer
than the Winter in mine.

~~~
matt_wulfeck
Wow interesting. Is that because of using the heater?

~~~
timthorn
Partly that, partly the headlights but also the performance of batteries
changes with temperature. In fact, the heater is used to condition the
environment for the battery pack, so if I didn't use the heating in winter the
range might be even less.

------
mavhc
For current UK driving, I estimated that we'd need 10 times more rapid
chargers than we have at present, that we'd need about 1 slow charger per 8
cars, as they'd need charging for 1 hour on average per day, and that the
current solar and wind power generated in UK would be enough to charge all the
cars in UK if they were all electric.

~~~
KekDemaga
Wouldn't demand bunch up during certain parts of the day instead of it being
evenly distributed?

~~~
mavhc
Well, if we assume current usage patterns, you could plug your car in at work
and at home, so most would be able to charge at almost any time of the day.

It's likely that owning a car will be a silly thing to do in the future
though, so it won't really matter

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droopyEyelids
So, whats the incentive to keep these maintained?

If it's anything like the USA they'll all be vandalized or worn out in a few
years, and no one will spend any money to fix 'em because they don't make
anyone any money.

~~~
averagewall
Profit? My city already has e-bike charging stations on just about every
street of every block. They still work, no doubt because they're profitable.
Also, China doesn't have the vandalism problem of America. Kids don't go out
of their way to destroy things for fun.

~~~
Baeocystin
? Yes they do. It's a real problem. There are a lot of people working to make
things better, but there is a lot of work to be done.

I find this fellow's assessment accurate, if you want a brief overview.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdsb2wwn-7g#t=3m9s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdsb2wwn-7g#t=3m9s)

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jarboot
This is an official mouthpiece of the CCP.

That said, if any government could make a widespread EV grid, it would be
china. In prosperous times, an authoritarian outlook can be a real boon for
widespread adoption.

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kuprel
"1 million kilowatt hours of power per day" cringe, *energy. Or 1 million
kilowatt hours per day of power, but that's a mess. Just state the power in
watts jesus

~~~
owenversteeg
41.66 megawatts. Sounds much less impressive when you put it that way, because
that's about 13 wind turbines' worth of power, 8% of the continuous output of
the smallest nuclear plant in the US, or about one hundredth the continuous
output of a large nuclear plant.

I'm not saying that 167,000 stations isn't impressive, because it is, but it's
not the power output of these stations that makes it impressive really.

------
horsecaptin
Are they compatible with Teslas?

~~~
ferongr
They're probably the standardized SAE or CCS connectors so if the Tesla
supports those, then yes.

~~~
chiph
When you buy a Tesla (Model S and X, not sure about the 3) you get adapters
for the SAE J1772 connector and other plugs.

