http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hkedition/2015-08/25/content_21693753.htm An electrifying problem 2015-08-25 By Chai Hua
[image / Forbes Conrad / Bloomberg http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hkedition/attachement/jpg/site1/20150825/f04da2db11221745f09c06.jpg Electric taxis are charged at a charging center in Shenzhen. The shortage of charging stations and charging piles is not only a frustrating issue for electric-car owners in the city, it poses a huge challenge for electric-car promotion ] More than 100 taxi drivers queue up day and night - charging or waiting for their electric vehicles to be charged - a familiar scene at an underground charging station in Futian district's transportation hub, one of the largest in Shenzhen. To date, the city has only about six charging stations with 194 charging piles in total, while more than 800 electric taxis ply the streets every day. Besides, most electric taxis need to be charged four times a day - each time for about half an hour. For private electric-car owners, the shortage of charging space has become more acute - exacerbated by a series of preference policies adopted by the Shenzhen authorities. From Aug 13, an individual who already owns one car will be allowed to buy a second one, but it has to be a new energy car. Electric cars are also exempt from purchase tax. In addition, the central and city governments will also offer buyers a subsidy of between 30,000 yuan ($4,696) and 190,000 yuan. Licenses for gasoline vehicles in Shenzhen have come under intense competition due to curbs on car purchases, but electric cars don't face such a problem as they have their own monthly quota of 20,000. But owners who are tempted to buy an electric car are bogged down by one headache - where to charge their vehicles? The best solution, it seems, is to charge their cars at the parking lot of their homes at night, but the problem here is that most residential parking lots in Shenzhen either have none, or very few charging piles for electric vehicles. Huang Liming, general manager of Yuedi 4S store in Shenzhen, told China Daily: "Most buyers complain that there are too few charging piles at their parking lots." In 2010, the Shenzhen municipal government stipulated that at least 5 percent of parking space in each residential complex must be equipped with charging piles. But, Huang thinks this is far from being adequate: "It should be at least 15 percent, and the area should be expanded to office building parking space." The local government has also designated 14 pilot communities for building charging piles. Among them, Lianhua Village has built 60 piles so far, but many are them are not in use. Another pilot community, Huangpu Yayuan in Futian district, so far hasn't built any charging facility at all. Its property management company explained: "We have yet to receive any charging instructions from the electricity power supply bureau. So, we could be accused of making arbitrary charges if we demand extra electricity and service fees." Earlier this year, the Shenzhen government allowed property management companies to charge a 0.45-yuan service fee for 1 kilowatt hour, but the details are still up in the air. Lu Xiangzhen, assistant director at the Shenzhen Leading Group Office of Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles, said: "Shenzhen apartments have specific regulations on parking and fire safety, but there're no rules yet on charging facilities, so there'll be obstacles in their construction." He said the government is trying to set clear rules on charging facilities starting from housing design and construction standards, meaning all new buildings and projects under construction will need to have charging facilities. An employee at the property management company of Huangpu Yayuan said that another reason for their unwillingness to set up charging piles is that they have too few electric cars to cover the costs. The industry remains in a dilemma - adequate and convenient charging facilities at community parking spaces are needed to attract electric-car buyers, but property management companies are unwilling to invest until demand is seen to be big enough. In fact, a charging facility can be easily set up as many electric cars can be charged with household electric power, so some electric-car owners would like to build charging facilities themselves. But, when they propose installing a wire to their parking lots, they are stopped by property management firms. "Property management companies always make all kinds of excuses to stop us from pulling an electric wire for our buyers to charge their cars. It's a very common situation," Huang lamented. Li Yuan, an electric-car owner living in north of Shenzhen, said: "I thought I had a great deal when I bought a car with a 77,000 yuan subsidy, but I didn't know it would be so troublesome when it comes to charging it." Initially, his property management company complained about fire hazards, so Li consulted the local fire department and secured approval. But the company then told him the parking space was not big enough although he found it was not the case. So until and unless all these snags are resolved once and for all, Shenzhen's electric-car business will continue to be at the mercy of those who think that their own business interests are not sufficiently glued to it. 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