17.348 million! A year-on-year increase of 53.5%... On September 18, the National Energy Administration revealed that as of the end of August 2025, the construction of China's electric vehicle charging infrastructure (piles/guns) has maintained steady growth. Among them, public charging infrastructure (piles/guns) reached 4.316 million, a year-on-year increase of 37.8%, with a total rated power of 196 million kilowatts and an average power of approximately 45.48 kilowatts; private charging infrastructure (piles/guns) reached 13.032 million, a year-on-year increase of 59.6%, and the reported installed power capacity of private charging facilities reached 115 million kilovolt-amperes.
Policy Support Accelerates Construction
In recent years, as the construction of charging and ultra-fast charging facilities has accelerated across the country, the "range anxiety" and "charging anxiety" of new energy vehicle owners have gradually become a thing of the past, and the scenario of "charging as convenient as refueling" is drawing closer.
To date, China has built the world's largest new energy vehicle charging network. Behind this figure is the result of the coordinated development of public and private charging piles/guns. Public charging piles/guns are scattered across urban core areas and transportation trunk lines, serving as a solid guarantee for long-distance travel and energy supplementation of electric vehicles in public places. Among them, the proportion of fast charging and ultra-fast charging is continuously increasing, allowing car owners to supplement energy and extend their range during short stops, enabling efficient charging and pleasant travel. Meanwhile, private charging piles/guns have experienced explosive growth with the popularization of household new energy vehicles, realizing a transformation from scratch and from sparseness to density, reflecting the in-depth penetration of energy supplementation facilities on the user side.
Consequently, the energy supplementation ecosystem has shifted from the early predicament of "more cars than piles" to a virtuous development stage of "piles increasing with cars". Some core cities are even taking the lead. This also indicates that the energy supplementation method for electric vehicles is gradually keeping pace with traditional fuel-powered vehicles, and even surpassing them in certain regions, reshaping the urban energy supply pattern.
From a regional perspective, the eastern coastal areas and new energy vehicle industry clusters are the main growth drivers of charging piles/guns. Represented by cities such as Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing, a three-dimensional network of "ultra-fast charging stations + community piles + destination charging piles" has been built: ultra-fast charging stations meet the rapid energy supplementation needs of car owners, community piles solve the daily parking and charging problems, and destination charging piles provide convenience for car owners in shopping malls, hotels and other places. Taking advantage of the "new infrastructure" policy, central and western cities have accelerated the improvement of weak links through subsidies and other means, with the coverage rate of county-level charging networks increasing by 30%. This has narrowed the gap in charging infrastructure between regions and laid the foundation for the development of the new energy vehicle sink market.
At the same time, the advancement of relevant technologies has supported the diversified development of charging infrastructure, meeting the energy supplementation needs of different user groups and application scenarios, and comprehensively promoting the integration of electric vehicles into daily life.
Market Drive Enters a Favorable Stage
In the new energy vehicle market, China continues to maintain substantial growth.
The latest data released by the Ministry of Science and Technology on September 18 shows that the cumulative sales of new energy vehicles in China have exceeded 40 million, with production and sales ranking first in the world for 10 consecutive years, making China's contribution to global carbon reduction goals. At the automaker level, some car companies include "free provision of household charging piles" as a car purchase benefit, which not only attracts consumers but also promotes the continuous improvement of the supporting rate of private piles.
The wave of electrification in the public sector is also driving the pace of infrastructure construction. The electrification rate of urban public transport, taxis, and logistics vehicles is increasing year by year, bringing broad space for the construction of dedicated charging stations.
In the technological progress of charging infrastructure, traditional charging guns face problems such as low heat dissipation efficiency and heavy cables, which restrict the improvement of charging power and user experience. Thus, liquid cooling technology has emerged as a key solution. Through a built-in cooling liquid circulation system, liquid-cooled charging guns can reduce the cross-sectional area of cables, reduce weight and costs, while supporting continuous high-current output, adapting to high-voltage platform models, doubling charging power, significantly shortening charging time, alleviating user anxiety, and making long-distance travel of electric vehicles worry-free.
The vigorous development of the charging infrastructure industry is inseparable from the coordinated progress of the upstream and downstream industrial chains. Upstream material and equipment suppliers are paying more attention to improving the "technological content" of R&D, enhancing product reliability and durability, and reducing long-term use costs. In the midstream and downstream, the active participation of various parties has become the key to the implementation of charging infrastructure. Some real estate developers have included charging piles as a standard configuration in new residential districts, reserving installation conditions for charging facilities to facilitate later installation by owners. At the same time, more and more expressway service areas are equipped with fast charging piles and ultra-fast charging stations. Whether for daily urban travel or intercity long-distance trips, car owners can find charging piles more easily.
Building a New Industrial Path
In the national public charging field, the government-enterprise cooperation has built an efficient "construction-management-operation" integrated model, which has become an important support for the rapid growth of charging piles/guns.
The National Energy Administration has played a coordinating and leading role in building a unified national information supervision platform for charging infrastructure, equipping the massive charging network with an "intelligent brain". Through this platform, the operating status of almost all charging piles/guns can be monitored in real time, including charging power, usage frequency, equipment failures and other information. Based on these data, precise guidance on resource allocation can be provided, avoiding blind construction of charging piles and ensuring that each charging pile/gun is fully utilized.
It is worth noting that charging facility operation enterprises have improved service quality with the help of intelligent systems, becoming a key link in the integrated model. Star Charge has independently developed AI algorithms to dynamically adjust electricity prices and power distribution.
At the same time, with the improvement and refinement of standards, domestic charging piles have embarked on a global journey along with the export of complete vehicles. Domestic independent brand charging pile products have successfully entered the European and Southeast Asian markets, winning international recognition with high-quality products and designs adapted to local standards, and also helping the development of the local new energy vehicle industry.
In central and western regions, the construction of charging pile networks has become a "golden key" to promoting balanced regional development and activating the potential of the sink market. Through the "charging infrastructure going to the countryside", the coverage rate of county-level charging piles in central and western regions has also significantly increased. Counties that once faced difficulties in charging have now gradually built a better energy supplementation network. This change has directly driven the upsurge of new energy vehicle consumption, becoming a new growth pole in the new energy vehicle market.
Looking to the future, relevant experts point out that the technical level of charging infrastructure will continue to evolve, leading the industry to new heights. In terms of scenario integration, charging piles are moving towards multi-functional integration. Moreover, with the deep integration of big data and Internet of Things technologies into the charging field, the operation model is undergoing profound changes. Through the massive user behavior data collected in real time by charging piles, operators will accurately insight into user needs and develop a series of personalized value-added services.
It is worth mentioning that the commercial application of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology will usher in a new era of energy interaction. Among them, users are not only electricity consumers but also electricity producers.
Facing innovative development, policy orientation, as a guide for industry development, is adjusting in response to the transformation of the industry development stage. Relevant subsidy policies will also focus on key areas, tilting towards the renovation of old residential districts and the construction of charging networks in rural areas. The future goal is to build a balanced, efficient and convenient charging ecosystem.
Industry insiders believe that the successful experience of China's charging infrastructure construction is also a microcosm of China's new energy vehicle industry "from following to leading". When charging piles become a "new standard configuration" of urban infrastructure, it not only reflects the improvement of charging efficiency but also the firm pace of the entire society towards low-carbon transformation. This world's largest charging network is injecting strong momentum into the "dual carbon" goals and will also contribute a "China solution" to the global automotive electrification process.