Electric Vehicles Cruise Through Spring Festival Travel Rush with Expanded Charging Network

Electric Vehicles Ease Spring Festival Travel Rush

The Spring Festival travel rush, known as chunyun in Chinese, is a period of intense travel as people return home for the holiday and then head back to work. This year, the rush ran from January 14th to February 22nd.

For drivers of electric vehicles (EVs), long journeys during peak travel times have often been a source of anxiety. Unlike filling up a petrol vehicle, which takes just a couple of minutes, EVs require specialist charging infrastructure, and an average single charge can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

However, this year, the nation's expanding electric vehicle charging network has enabled some EV drivers to breathe a sigh of relief. The Ministry of Transport reports that daily EV traffic on the nation's expressways has exceeded 6.8 million vehicles during the travel rush so far, a 60 percent increase from the previous year.

To enhance charging efficiency, the ministry has implemented various measures, including increasing the number of charging bays at expressway service areas. As of November 2024, China had nearly 49,300 charging bays at its expressway service areas, an increase of 16,600 from the end of 2023. The percentage of expressway service areas with charging facilities has risen from 85 percent in 2023 to 97 percent.

For EV drivers like Wang Qiuxia, the difference on the road this year was clear. She and her husband, who drive their EV 1,500 kilometers home for the holidays every year, made the trip this time without the usual anxiety over charging. "Now, charging is so convenient," Wang said. "The navigation system in our car alerts us to nearby stations and available charging spots. We stop when we're tired, and while we rest for about 40 minutes, the car gets enough charge for the next leg of the journey.