City plans 5,050 electric-car charging spots

Shanghai will build 50 charging stations and 5,000 charging poles in three years to meet the needs of local electric vehicle buyers, officials said yesterday.

The stations and poles will be built at local public parking lots and in neighborhoods, said Feng Jun, general manager of the Shanghai Electric Power Co.

"As long as locals buy electric vehicles, the power supply authority will ensure the vehicles have places to charge," said Feng.

Consumers have become switched on to the idea of green mobility through the use of electric vehicles since the city was named the country's first pilot city for electric vehicle development in April 2011.

Still, many worry that such vehicles will be difficult to charge when they run out of power.

The city government has built 12 charging stations and 890 refueling poles mainly in suburban Songjiang and Minhang districts, said Ma Jing, chief engineer of the Shanghai Economic and Information Technology Commission.

Ma said it is more difficult to build refueling facilities in downtown areas, so the government is first encouraging use of the new-energy cars in suburbs. Facilities will be expanded downtown.

Feng said he is quite optimistic about use of electric vehicles in the city. "It has a great potential because many local taxis, government vehicles and street-cleaning trucks will be the first to use electric vehicles."

Simple refueling facilities can be built across the city for new-energy taxis, said Zhang Hailiang, managing director of Shanghai Volkswagen.

Zhang said "fast charge" stations should be installed at public parking lots and commercial areas for urgent use and "slow charge" centers at residential areas and office buildings.

To encourage individuals to buy new-energy cars before year's end, the city government will pay a subsidy of 40,000 yuan (US$6,432) for electric vehicles and 30,000 yuan for plug-in hybrids.

Each vehicle will also get a free license plate.