A staff member of a charging station demonstrates how to charge an electronic vehicle on Oct 25. [Photo/xinhuanet.com]

Authorities in Guizhou province have outlined plans to build a network of 160 charging stations and 85,000 charging piles in the province by 2020 to cater for 100,000 electric vehicle owners.

“The lack of charging infrastructure has been hindering the development of electronic vehicles. Therefore, the construction will stimulate the investment in electric automobile industry,” explained Zhang Yingwei, who head up the Guizhou Energy Administration.

Guizhou anticipates to have 100,000 electronic vehicles by 2020, according to the country’s analysis of the demand for the development of new energy vehicles and relative analysis on mobile industries. However, as of this month, the province had only 1,011 charging piles – far from the number needed to support 10,000 electric cars, never mind 100,000.

Guizhou is one of the country’s first pilot zones of ecological construction and is rich in coal and hydropower resources. The construction of charging infrastructure is a way to improve the consumption of electric energy while reducing the province’s dependence on oil from other regions.

Five cities (Guiyang, Zunyi, Bijie, Anshun and Liupanshui) and the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture are designated as demonstration sites to promote new energy vehicles. Gui’an New Area has also been drafted into the planned area for the construction of charging infrastructure.

Ren Zongwen, from Gui’an New area, said that the area has achieved agreements with some enterprises to build a new energy automobile industry park. Upon the completion of the first phase in 2017, the park will make an annual turnover of 30 billion yuan ($4.43 billion) and provide jobs for 8,000 people.

An intelligent monitoring platform of charging infrastructure is also under construction. It will provide services, such as navigation, subscription and expense settlement, according to Xu Bing, vice-general manager of Guizhou Power Grid.

One of the province’s near-term of goals is to set up 100 charging stations and 53,500 charging piles, covering 88 counties and districts and 248 scenic spots.