As of the end of July this year, the cumulative number of licensed electric vehicles in Taiwan has exceeded 80,000, with New Taipei City ranking among the top three cities with 10,000. On the 23rd, EVALUE and the New Taipei City government announced a plan to install 1,200 electric vehicle charging stations within three years. EVALUE will invest NT$500 million, with New Taipei City providing the sites, to begin the project of installing charging stations in parking lots.
In addition, in response to accidental fire incidents involving electric vehicles, Huacheng and the New Taipei City government took the lead in introducing one-button notification and fire blankets to improve the fire safety of electric vehicles.
Huacheng's charging station revenue increased sixfold in two years, thanks to its own construction and collaboration with New Taipei City.
Hsu Yi-sheng, CEO of Hwa Cheng Motor and Hwa Cheng Power, stated that electric vehicles take a long time to charge. AC slow charging can take several hours, while DC fast charging takes 20 to 40 minutes. However, "since cars often spend more time parked than in motion, we have the opportunity to provide charging services when they're parked, eliminating the need for drivers to wait and search for charging stations."
Among them, 1,200 charging piles include European and American standards with power of 7kW, 11kW, and 180kW, and will be distributed in 229 stations in New Taipei City. The current charging price is NT$8 per kilowatt-hour for AC charging piles and NT$11 per kilowatt-hour for DC charging piles.
According to the New Taipei City government's plan to install electric vehicle charging stations in public off-street parking lots, the first phase will see a total of 350 stations installed, expected to be completed by the end of 2024; the second phase will see a total of 900 stations installed, expected to be completed by the end of 2025; and the third phase will see a total of 120 stations installed, with all expected to be completed by 2026.
Xu Yisheng pointed out that Huacheng Electric has currently built 510 AC slow charging stations and 83 DC fast charging stations. It is expected that the number of charging stations will exceed 1,000 by the end of this year. The ratio of AC slow charging to DC fast charging will be 1:9. By the end of the year, the market share of charging stations can be increased from the current 10% to 15%.
This expansion, including Huacheng Electric's own facilities and those partnered with New Taipei City, will significantly increase Huacheng's EV charging station revenue. Hsu Yi-sheng stated that Huacheng Electric aims to have a cumulative total of 2,500 charging stations by the end of 2026. Following the 1,200 stations built in partnership with New Taipei City, the company aims to ultimately deploy 3,700 charging stations. By then, Huacheng Electric's charging station revenue could increase sixfold, reaching a 30% market share.
Improve fire safety on electric vehicles by introducing "one-click notification" and fire blankets
The trend towards electric vehicles is irreversible, and the deployment of electric vehicle charging stations must be proactively prepared. However, in addition to improving charging convenience and battery charging efficiency for car owners, the safety of the charging site cannot be ignored. Huacheng Electric Power's charging system has four safety protections:
1. Charging safety equipment has passed Voluntary Product Certification (VPC).
2. Equipment protection: overvoltage, overcurrent, short circuit, leakage, overload, and lightning protection.
3. Passed the international information security management ISO2700.
4. Compatible with all new electric vehicles on the market, no adapter required.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou Youyi stated, "How can we maintain safety in the event of an electric vehicle fire?" Therefore, future smart parking lots must be highly secure. New Taipei City has taken the lead in deploying fire blankets specifically for electric vehicles in all public parking lots and is the first to offer a 24/7, one-touch notification system.
The "Electric Vehicle Fire Blanket" is a crucial device for maintaining a safe environment for charging after an electric vehicle fire. It effectively prevents the spread of fire, especially in parking lots or indoor charging environments, and can reduce the risk of fire spread. However, promotion is still ongoing. Lin Yuchuan, R&D Manager at Huacheng Electric, explained that the blanket weighs nearly 30 kilograms and requires professional firefighters to operate to prevent exposure to fire and any risk of electric shock.
The number of electric vehicles in Taiwan continues to increase. Therefore, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced the "Regulations on the Management of Dedicated Parking Spaces for Electric Vehicle Charging and Their Charging Facilities" in 2023. Public off-street parking lots must have more than 2% of electric vehicle charging spaces, and private off-street public parking lots must have more than 1%. Therefore, in recent years, county and city governments and businesses have actively deployed electric vehicle charging spaces.
Hsu Yi-sheng pointed out that current public sector demand stems from the 2% requirement for public parking lots, leading to public sector electric vehicle charging stations typically outnumbering those in the private sector. Huacheng Electric Power and New Taipei City are currently participating in the Ministry of Environment's "Demonstration Program for Adding or Expanding Public Electric Vehicle Energy Supplementary Facilities in Public Spaces." They have received NT$50 million in subsidies for power improvements, among other things. Huacheng is investing NT$500 million in hardware and equipment, and will return a 9% operating royalty to the New Taipei City government once operations begin.
This article is reprinted with permission from RECCESSARY. The original title is "New Taipei City's 3-year goal is to install 1,200 electric vehicle charging stations. How is Huacheng Electric Power, the driving force behind this, improving charging safety?" By Zhuang Minqian. This article is not subject to the CC license.
Sources: Environmental Information Center
