(JW Insights) Aug 7 -- Charging piles for electric vehicles expanded at a rapid pace in China during the first half of the year on booming demand for EVs, industry data showed, reported China Daily on August 3.

More than 1.44 million charging piles were added from January to June, up 40.6 percent from the same period in 2022, the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance said, taking the vehicle-pile ratio to 2.6:1.

New energy vehicle sales in the country surged 44.1 percent year-on-year in the first half to nearly 3.75 million units. NEV output touched nearly 3.79 million units, rising 42.4 percent year-on-year, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed.

China's NEV sales had gone up from 1.37 million in 2020 to 6.89 million in 2022, it said.

As EV demand has undergone sustained expansion in recent years, production and sales of charging piles are expected to climb further, ushering in greater opportunities for market players, said Lin Boqiang, head of the China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy at Xiamen University.

Tesla Inc, for instance, has built more than 1,600 supercharging stations and over 10,000 supercharging piles in China, covering all provinces, Lin said.

EV startups including NIO, Li Auto and Xpeng are actively deploying charging stations to improve mileage efficiency and user experience.

Traditional oil giants, such as China National Petroleum Corp, China Petrochemical Corp and China National Offshore Oil Corp, have also entered the sector to compete for a share of this lucrative market, which will, in turn, lead to increased competition, he said.

The construction of charging infrastructure is still lagging behind sharp demand from the EV sector in China, said Essence Securities in a research note recently, adding that the current vehicle-pile ratio holds great potential for expansion.

The potential for growth of NEVs in rural areas is vast, surpassing that of even large cities, said Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, according to the China Daily report.

(Gao J/Yuan XY)