Group Aims to Install 250,000 EV Charging Points in China

A crowdfunding project called Star Charge plans to install 250,000 electric vehicle charging points in 100 Chinese cities over three years, the Shanghai Daily reports.

The 4.5 billion-yuan ($706 million) program is building the charging poles for free in exchange for the land to put them on. The newspaper did not explain how the devices will be managed and operated.

Star Charge hopes to erect 10,000 outlets in Shanghai by next June and eventually raise the number in that city to 100,000. The group says it will install 60% of the Shanghai charge points at apartment buildings, 30% at shopping malls and parks and 10% at workplaces.

The Shanghai Daily says Vice Premier Ma Kai has indicated government support for Star Charge, which targets 250,000 installations across China by about the end of 2018.

Other media reports note that several new companies are promising to build thousands of charging points in China. The surge in activity coincides with the central government’s renewed push to put five million electric vehicles on the road by 2020.

The government also hopes to establish annual capacity to make two million EVs in the country by then, according to the newspaper. It points out that China had installed only 780 charging stations and 31,000 charging poles by the end of last year. It says the government’s goal is to establish 120,000 charging stations and 4.8 million charging poles by 2020.