"No waiting in line, no searching for a charging pile, it's so convenient to use mobile charging services," said Sun Guangjin, owner of a new energy vehicle.
During the Spring Festival holiday, when Sun arrived at the charging station of an expressway service area in Zaozhuang, Shandong province, he found all the DC charging stations had been fully occupied.
Originally, the service area had four DC charging stations, which still fell short of charging demand during peak times because of the heavy holiday traffic — that was when mobile charging stations were introduced to improve efficiency.
What Sun saw was the first batch of mobile charging stations deployed by State Grid Zaozhuang Power Supply Co, which was also the company's first holiday convenience charging service launched based on the analysis of State Grid's big data.
The power supplier had deployed 10 mobile charging stations in six high-speed service areas in Zaozhuang right before the holiday break, ensuring green and worry-free travel for NEV owners.
"Compared to traditional fixed stations, mobile stations are flexible and can charge 20 kWh in half an hour," said Wang Yang, an employee at Zaozhuang Power Supply Co.
Over the past decade, Zaozhuang has continuously increased its investment in charging infrastructure, strategically placing charging stations around the city's core areas, large commercial centers, cultural and sports venues, parks, transportation hubs, and along expressways. It has built 96 charging stations and 416 charging piles to date.
In order to ensure smooth power supply during Spring Festival, State Grid Zaozhuang Power Supply Co has also organized on-site services at each of its charging stations and provided 24-hour on-duty services. Based on information provided by the State Grid's intelligent vehicle networking platform, real-time charging demand and operating status of all the 96 charging stations can be managed, which serves as important information for the dispatch of mobile charging stations as needed.