EV drivers queue for hours at China expressway service areas over National Day holiday
In short
Electric-vehicle drivers waited hours to charge at expressway service areas during China's National Day holiday, with one driver at the Lingjiang service area taking queue ticket No. 99 and waiting more than five hours, cnBeta reported. At the Dazhou North service area on the G65 Baomao expressway, a car with 1% battery stalled and was pushed to a charger by staff and other drivers. Xinhua said some service areas were especially busy with charging, and cnBeta said a further charging peak is expected during the Oct 5–6 return trip.
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Electric-vehicle drivers queued for hours to charge at expressway service areas during China's National Day holiday, cnBeta reported. Xinhua published an item headlined “These service areas are especially busy with charging” without further detail. cnBeta said main expressways saw a charging peak from Sept 30 onward. [ 1 , 2 ]
At the Lingjiang service area, a driver was given queue ticket No. 99 and waited more than five hours for a turn to charge, cnBeta reported. At the Dazhou North service area on the G65 Baomao expressway, a car whose battery had fallen to 1% stalled near the chargers and was pushed to a charging point by staff and helpful drivers, while dozens of vehicles were still waiting, according to the report. One driver on a long self-driving trip charged twice, queuing 4.5 hours the first time and one hour the second, cnBeta said. [ 1 ]
cnBeta attributed the congestion in part to older service areas having too few chargers, in some cases only about a dozen, which it said struggled to absorb the holiday surge; service areas dispatched mobile charging vehicles in response. The outlet said highway driving and air conditioning drain batteries faster, adding to charging demand, and described the situation as a mismatch of few chargers and many cars. [ 1 ]
In a later summary, cnBeta reported that drivers blamed the number of range-extended vehicles for the long queues at service areas on the first day of the holiday. The claim was attributed to drivers and was not confirmed by another outlet. [ 3 ]
cnBeta advised drivers to check charger status along their route in advance, avoid peak times, or leave the expressway to charge in nearby towns, and said another charging peak is expected on the return trip, on Oct 5 from 11:00 to 21:00 and Oct 6 from 10:00 to 22:00. [ 1 ]
Why it matters
Holiday travel concentrated EV charging demand into a few days, exposing capacity limits at older service areas along major expressways. The reports point to a recurring mismatch between a growing number of electric cars on the road and the number of charging points available at peak times. cnBeta advised drivers to plan around the expected return-trip peaks on Oct 5 and Oct 6.
Key facts
- Expressway service areas saw heavy charging demand during the National Day holiday, with long queues reported. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- A driver at the Lingjiang service area received queue ticket No. 99 and waited more than five hours to charge, cnBeta reported. [ 1 ]
- At the Dazhou North service area on the G65 Baomao expressway, a car whose battery had dropped to 1% stalled near the chargers and was pushed to a charging point by staff and other drivers, with dozens of vehicles still waiting. [ 1 ]
- One driver on a long trip charged twice, queuing 4.5 hours the first time and one hour the second, according to cnBeta. [ 1 ]
- cnBeta attributed the congestion partly to older service areas having too few chargers, in some cases only about a dozen, and said mobile charging vehicles were dispatched to help. [ 1 ]
- Some drivers blamed the number of range-extended vehicles for the long queues, according to cnBeta's summary. [ 3 ]
- cnBeta said further charging peaks are expected on the return trip on Oct 5 from 11:00 to 21:00 and Oct 6 from 10:00 to 22:00. [ 1 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Which service areas Xinhua identified as especially busy with charging. Xinhua published only a headline with no article text, so no list of areas or figures is available from it.
- Whether range-extended vehicles were a cause of the long charging queues. The claim was attributed to drivers in cnBeta's summary and was not supported by another outlet or by data.
- The total number of vehicles waiting, chargers available or service areas affected nationwide. The documents give individual examples only, and Xinhua's item carries no details.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- cnBeta reports charging queues at expressway service areas, including a driver at the Lingjiang service area who waited more than five hours. [ 1 ]
- Xinhua publishes an item titled “These service areas are especially busy with charging”. [ 2 ]
- cnBeta reports continued queues at charging piles and battery-swap lanes and drivers blaming range-extended vehicles. [ 3 ]
- Expected start of the return-trip charging peak on Oct 5 (11:00–21:00), according to cnBeta. [ 1 ]
- Expected start of the return-trip charging peak on Oct 6 (10:00–22:00), according to cnBeta. [ 1 ]