China’s central government on Monday revealed new plans to regulate the country’s growing network of high-speed electric vehicle chargers, as major automakers from BYD to Tesla scramble to build ultra-fast charging facilities amid user complaints of long queues in certain areas at peak times. According to a notice issued by four central government departments, Beijing called on EV charging operators to “prioritize” the replacement of older chargers with utilization rates exceeding 40% during major holidays with newer and higher-speed ones. The move is for the sake of “sensible planning and construction” of such facilities and will contribute to the goal of establishing over 100,000 high-speed chargers by 2027, according to the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, along with three other departments. Chinese companies BYD, Huawei, and Geely-owned Zeekr earlier this year launched new EV chargers capable of achieving the maximum charging speed of over 1,000 kilowatts (kW), adding 400 kilometers (249 miles) of range in just several minutes. [TechNode reporting, National Development and Reform Commission, in Chinese]
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