According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the current number of electric bicycles in mainland China has exceeded 350 million, and the average annual growth rate of production in the past five years is 12%. Electric bicycles have become an important means of transportation for the masses to travel short distances. Guiding the outdoor charging of electric bicycles is an important measure to eliminate potential safety hazards and ensure the safety of electricity. However, at present, the charging charges in some areas are not standardized, and the charging costs are high, which affects the enthusiasm of the masses for outdoor charging.
A few days ago, the General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission and the General Office of the State Administration for Market Regulation issued a notice on standardizing the charging and charging behavior of electric bicycles, guiding the reasonable formation of charging service charging standards and promoting the reduction of the charging burden of the masses. How can electric bikes say goodbye to "charging assassins"? What are Beijing's current exploration experiences? How to implement the policy of the two departments requiring the separation of prices and fees and the clear marking of prices?
From market-independent pricing to price separation
Uncle Li is scanning the code to charge/reporter shooting
Uncle Li, who lives in Qidong Homestead, Fantou Street, Chaoyang District, is charging the car in the electric bicycle shed downstairs of his home, and he showed the reporter the charging record of the previous day on the mobile phone applet: charging for 2.9 hours and charging 4 cents. The charging standard is 0.51 yuan per kilowatt-hour of charging fee, plus 0.5 yuan per kilowatt-hour of service. He said that this was the adjusted tariff in April last year. "At first, I charged my car directly upstairs (home), and then I didn't go upstairs when I had this set (charging pile). When the charging pile is just installed, its price is relatively high, charged by the hour, 1 yuan for two hours, at most they have someone to charge 6~8 hours for 4 yuan, sometimes I charge 2 hours and 10 minutes, and I have to pay 1 hour for these 10 minutes, I feel unreasonable, and I find the (community) secretary to reflect, and quickly solve the charging problem, and now it can be fully charged for less than 1 yuan at most. ”
Uncle Li shows the charging billing annotation and the charging charge record of the previous day/photographed by reporters
Wang Rihong, director of Chaoyang District, Beijing Green Star Little Green Man Technology Co., Ltd., one of the operators of electric bicycle charging facilities in the community, said that in 2017, the company began to carry out the stage of charging piles and charging cabinet business, and the charges were completely self-priced. At that time, the charge was that the company communicated well with the property, agreed to it, and set it on the contract, as long as the price felt that the people could adapt to it, and could come here to charge, so the price was set, the charging fee of the charging cabinet at that time was 0.4 yuan / hour, the service fee was 0.2 yuan / hour, the charging pile was 1 yuan for 3 hours, and the price was about 3 yuan for one kilowatt-hour.
Qidong Home Electric Bicycle Charging Shed/Photographed by reporters
Charging fees on an hourly basis is the practice of many operators of e-bike charging facilities. He pointed out that the high price of electricity in the property itself also led to the high charges. Because such prices are far higher than the electricity bills in residents' homes, Wang Rihong said that the utilization rate of charging piles at that time was only about 30%. Residents still take it back to the building to charge, causing some safety hazards. In 2020, the government began to talk to the company to reduce the tariff, and let the company directly connect with the power supply bureau, like the kind of civil electricity, directly report the installation of electricity meters. The other part is to communicate with the property to rectify the line.
The residential area has become a charging fee of 0.5103 yuan per kilowatt-hour and a service fee of 0.5 yuan per kilowatt-hour, and the overall realization was last year. Because the main cost of this piece is the construction cost, the construction cost will be reduced during construction, and the wiring will be within 30 meters, and if it exceeds 100 meters, it will not be paved. The later operation and maintenance cost accounts for 0.27 yuan, and now this cost can be maintained, but the company does not make much money now.
Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission's "Notice on Regulating the Charging Standards for Electric Bicycle Charging Facilities in Residential Quarters in the City" / Screenshot of the official website of the Municipal Development and Reform Commission
In 2022, the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission issued the "Notice on Regulating the Charging Standards for Electric Bicycle Charging Facilities in Residential Communities in the City", pointing out that the charging of electric bicycle charging facilities is divided into electricity and charging service fees, with the electricity fee being set by the government and the charging service fee being regulated by the market. The electricity consumption of electric bicycle charging facilities set up in residential areas shall be included in the category of "residential electricity", and the government pricing shall be implemented, and the electricity price level of "non-residential users who implement residential prices" in Beijing shall be implemented. The electricity price standard is 0.5103 yuan/kWh (less than 1 thousand volts). This notice will be implemented from April 1, 2022.
Comparison of charging fees before and after the adjustment in 2023 / Photo provided by the interviewee
Guo Rongbin, deputy director of the Ping'an Construction Office of Fatou Street, said that since 2022, the street has invested more than 7 million yuan to build these charging sheds and install charging facilities, and there are currently about 300 places covering all communities. After it was built, residents generally reported that the price was relatively expensive, and some may charge it for three or four yuan once, and no one used the charging pile that was built, so on March 17 last year, it convened the property, the operating unit, as well as community representatives and functional departments to hold a coordination meeting, requiring them to charge charging fees in accordance with Beijing's policy of "electricity + service fee".
There are 6 communities in the Cuicheng area, which is equivalent to high-voltage self-managed households, and the cost of photoelectric is 0.6 yuan per kilowatt-hour of electricity, and the property company takes the initiative to make profits, and the charging costs in the jurisdiction have been reduced to 0.51 yuan per kilowatt-hour. At that time, the flying wire charging in the bungalow area was particularly serious, and the street paid the service fee for the charging facilities bought by its own investment, so now the residents charge only one electricity fee, 0.51 yuan per kilowatt-hour.
Electric bicycle charging cabinet in Cuicheng Xinyuan Community, Fatou Street/Photographed by reporters
Wu Jiazhao, chief of the energy section of the Chaoyang District Urban Management Committee, said that most of the charging facilities for electric bicycles in the district have met the separation of electricity and service charges, and the charging electricity fee for electric bicycles in the residential area has reached the basic requirement of 0.5103 yuan per kilowatt-hour. Chaoyang District Urban Management Committee organized power supply companies and property enterprises to find high-voltage self-managed households within the residents supporting the distribution box and power facilities, so as to realize the direct introduction of electricity from the distribution box that enjoys the residential electricity price, and reduce the cost of electricity charges.
For commercial and residential dual-use and pure apartments, as long as the power point of civil electricity can be found in this community, this problem can be solved. Some townships will pull the carport and electricity cost into the governance funds of the township to help the enterprise complete this part of the capital investment, so that the cost of the enterprise will be small, and its service fee standard can be lower, more beneficial to the people, so that the people can go downstairs to charge.
All parties cooperate to promote the reduction of charging service fees
The General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission and the General Office of the State Administration for Market Regulation issued a notice on regulating the charging behavior of electric bicycles/screenshot of the official website of the National Development and Reform Commission
The "Notice" also clearly stated that to promote the reduction of charging service fees, the street office, neighborhood (village) committee, community property rights unit, owners' committee and the property service enterprises entrusted by it can build their own charging facilities under the premise of ensuring safety, and determine the charging service fee from a low level. For charging facilities constructed and operated by third parties, it is advocated that community property rights units, owners' committees, property service companies, etc. do not charge or reduce venue rental fees, do not participate in or reduce revenue sharing, and use the concession space to reduce charging service fees.
Langxinzhuang Village Electric Vehicle Centralized Charging Storage / Reporter shooting
In Langxinzhuang Village, Heizhuang Township, Chaoyang District, there are about 700 charging interfaces in the two centralized charging warehouses for electric bicycles in the north and south, charging 0.3 yuan per kilowatt-hour from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and only 0.1 yuan per kilowatt-hour from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. Yang Dong, deputy head of Heizhuang Township, said that 16 villages in the township have popularized this charging standard, and the number of residents who charge centrally has increased from 40~50% in the past to more than 95%.
Before the township out of the field, many charging pile companies implemented free installation, by charging service fees to make profits, in recent years they have also reached 70% of the cost recovery in the process of profit. In the follow-up work, the township will give them a part of the collective funds, and in terms of maintenance costs, the financial funds will bear a part of the supplement, so that the benefits will really be given to the people.
Interior view of the centralized charging storage place for electric vehicles in Langxinzhuang Village/photographed by reporters
Charging in residential areas, now Heizhuang Township is taking the service fee can not be higher than the guidance fee, when the new charging pile is installed by the township government, the follow-up service fee and operating costs, by the basic cost of the financial to bear, so that the enterprise also has the initiative and enthusiasm.
Citizens charge at the centralized charging storage of electric vehicles in Langxinzhuang Village and display charging records/reporter shooting
Dashilan Street, Xicheng District, from May this year, will cancel the charging service fee on a pilot basis for all electric bicycle charging facilities led by the street in the jurisdiction. The street analyzed the operating costs of the facilities, included fixed costs such as platform fees and traffic fees into the annual financial expenditure of the street, and signed a contract with the operating unit. Non-fixed, low-frequency O&M costs are included separately in fiscal expenditure. Li Xuyao, deputy chief of the Urban Management Office of Dashilan Street, Xicheng District, introduced that at that time, some charging was packaged and charged, and some could be charged for 2 hours for 1 yuan, which was relatively expensive as a whole, and residents reported that it was concentrated.
Electric bicycle charging shed on Dashilan Street, Xicheng District/Photographed by reporters
The street has been standardizing bicycle charging charges this year, and the first task is to promote the separation of prices and fees, and the 4 service units corresponding to about 5 charging cabinets and 30 charging piles have all been adjusted to the state of price separation. The second part continues to promote the work of reducing service fees, after the separation of prices and fees, all units are basically in accordance with the upper limit of the government's standard to set the service fee standard, 0.5 yuan per degree, and later found that 5 charging cabinets were invested and constructed by the district fire brigade in the early stage, which is equivalent to the government has borne the construction cost in the early stage, so the street also interviewed the charging service company at that time, and the service fee changed from 0.5 yuan per kilowatt-hour to 0.3 yuan per kilowatt-hour. The third work is to pilot the cancellation of charging service fees, the street in the early stage of the construction of charging piles and charging cabinets have achieved zero service fees, residents only need to pay 0.5103 yuan per kilowatt-hour, and the cost of charging at home is the same, residents are obviously much more enthusiastic than before, but also eliminate the potential safety hazards of residents flying wire charging or home charging.
A single-compartment charging box installed outside a resident's yard / photographed by a reporter
In addition, at present, Dashilar Street is also promoting the installation of single-warehouse charging boxes/cabinets inside and outside residential courtyards, with their own leakage protection functions or fire extinguishing balls, so as to facilitate residents to charge safely.
Wang Sulan, a 63-year-old neighbor of Dashilan Street in Xicheng District, rode an electric bike in 2010, she recalls. "I haven't charged outside before, I heard them say it's very expensive, the electricity fee is the electricity fee, the service fee is the service fee, we all charge it in the house, because charging at home is cheap. But after the "May Day" this year, the government paid for the service fee. Our people have benefited again, it is cheaper, and it is safer, so we can rest assured that the electricity bill is the same as in our home, and 1 yuan at a time is enough for me to be full, which is very good. ”
Wang Sulan charges the electric bicycle and shows the charging billing interface/reporter shooting
Bai Yu, chief of the Science and Technology Information Section of the Xicheng District Urban Management Committee, introduced that the construction of charging piles in the district is operated by more than 200 brand service enterprises, and more than a dozen charging methods such as package charging, parity electricity and service fees, and electricity and service fees are adopted. The charging price is not affordable. Statistics from April show that package fees and monthly billing account for nearly 70% of all charging methods. In line with the standard billing standard (0.51 electricity fee + 0.5 yuan service fee and below the standard), accounting for only 30%.
The streets of Dashilan in Xicheng District are posted with promotional signs prohibiting electric vehicles from parking and charging indoors, passages, and exits/photographed by reporters
Bai Yu said, from May this year, Xicheng District began to standardize the work of electricity prices, for some charging methods, prices are not compliant with administrative guidance, administrative interviews, administrative admonitions, so that service manufacturers standardize charging standards, electricity and service fees to be priced separately, service fees can not exceed electricity charges, like some streets with many independent property rights of charging piles, equipment installation time is relatively early, there is no separate billing function, has begun to replace the pricing module, After the replacement of the equipment can be realized electricity and service fees are charged separately, at present, Xicheng District has standardized more than 20,000 interfaces, and now the compliance has reached 70%. We are also studying better methods, especially for these access to commercial electricity, about the model of exempting service fees such as Dashilar, Xicheng District is also studying how to better promote, as much as possible so that people can enjoy the cost of compliant charging.
Residents of Dashilan Street in Xicheng District charge at the charging cabinet in front of their homes/Photographed by reporters
Inside the charging cabinet / photographed by a reporter
Equal emphasis is placed on strengthening supervision and encouraging market competition in accordance with the law
Some electric bicycle charging facilities in the city are not clearly marked with prices/reporters shooting
The "Notice" issued by the two departments pointed out that the charging fee for outdoor charging facilities for electric bicycles mainly includes charging electricity and service fees, and charging electricity and service fees should be marked and priced separately. For charging facilities that do not have the conditions for separate measurement of electricity, local development and reform departments shall, in conjunction with relevant departments, clarify the time node for upgrading and transformation in combination with the actual situation, and require the operating units of charging facilities to fully realize the separate measurement of charging electricity from January 1, 2025 in principle. The charging facility operator shall, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the clearly marked price, mark the charging price, service fee items and charging standards in conspicuous positions such as charging places, mobile phone applications, and WeChat official accounts, and shall not charge any fees that are not indicated.
In the investigation, the reporter found that there are still problems in Beijing such as non-standard charging behavior and high charging fees of some electric bicycle charging facility operators. For example, Beijing Dekang Leifeng Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. has set up charging facilities in many districts of Beijing. However, the charging standards for different locations are not the same, some are separated according to the charging fee plus service fee, and the price is clearly marked, which is in line with the standard, but there are still many who are still charged by the hour, and there is a price difference between different power prices. For example, the company's charging station located in a community is 0.5 yuan per hour for 0~300w, 1 yuan per hour for 301~600w, and 1.2 yuan per hour for 600~800w. The reporter called the company to inquire about the specific situation, but the phone was never answered.
Beijing Dekang Leifeng Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. charging applet shows that the price of some charging piles is still packaged and charged/photographed by reporters
In this regard, Wu Jiazhao, chief of the energy section of the Chaoyang District Urban Management Committee, said that if it is found that the charging charges of electric bicycles do not meet the standards, such as the electricity and service charges are not separated, the prices in the residential area are not publicized, and the electricity charges are not implemented in accordance with the requirements of the municipal state, the local market supervision department and other relevant units will be organized to jointly urge the enterprise to standardize his charging standards and investigate and deal with this non-standard charging behavior. If the enterprise refuses to make rectifications, the market supervision department shall punish him in accordance with the requirements of relevant laws and regulations.
Beijing Residential Electricity Price List/From the Internet
The "Circular" also pointed out that all localities should strengthen supervision and control in accordance with the law. It is worth noting that the "Notice" makes it clear that the electricity used by electric bicycle charging facilities in residential areas shall be charged by power grid enterprises to charging facility operators and charging facility operators to users. The electricity consumption of electric bicycle charging facilities outside residential areas shall be implemented according to the electricity price policy of the place where it is located. According to the electricity price table for residents in Beijing released by State Grid Beijing Electric Power, the current electricity price for residential users (urban users) is 0.4733 yuan per kilowatt-hour.
Electric bicycles have become an important means of transportation for the masses to travel short distances/photographed by reporters
Li Hongchang, a researcher at the Sustainable Transportation Innovation Center of Beijing Jiaotong University and the Beijing Institute of Comprehensive Transportation Development of Beijing Jiaotong University, pointed out that first, technical support is needed to ensure that there are rules for separate pricing of electricity and service charges at the beginning of 2025.
Second, it is necessary to further clarify the relevant subsidies and guidance measures of local governments in the process of reducing electric bicycle fees.
Third, there are many problems that need to be solved in terms of public land, quasi-public land, and quasi-public investment, how to connect with the behavior of enterprises and standardize the standard behavior of enterprises.
Fourth, the current charging methods are not transparent and non-public, and there should be a time node and punishment measures for implementation. Local governments need to adapt measures to local conditions, and effectively reduce the charging standards for electric bicycles in areas where the government can effectively subsidize and play the role of state-owned enterprises, so as to better serve people's livelihood.
He suggested that the industry access and exit mechanism should be improved. In order to regulate this market access and market competition behavior, there need to be corresponding regulatory standards, that is to say, there are corresponding rules for entry and exit that need to be formulated. The relevant government departments shall introduce corresponding systems, standards, and measures so that there are laws to follow and safeguards to be maintained.
An electric bicycle charging shed in Pingfang Township, Chaoyang District/Photographed by reporters
At the same time that the charging fee is separated from the price, the price is strictly marked, and the charging service fee is reduced, the "Notice" also clarifies that the charging service fee is subject to market regulation, and all localities should encourage market competition, and the charging facility operator shall not be designated by administrative means.
Xie Yurong, deputy director of the Institute of Land Development and Regional Economy of the China Macroeconomic Research Institute, pointed out that on the one hand, it is hoped that prices will be lowered through policy guidance; On the other hand, for operating enterprises, this kind of market-oriented competition is also a kind of diversified competition, not only the price should be transparent, the content of the service should be transparent, and the high quality can also be at a good price. For example, the service content provided by the enterprise has more value-added services, and there may be a corresponding price of such value-added services, and it can also expand the diversified market competition of the operating enterprise, and ensure its certain viability and profitability through high quality and high price, so that users will enjoy better services, and residents are still differentiated and can choose by themselves.
Reporter | Zhu Yanting
Edited | Zhu Yanting
Editor-in-Chief | Cheng Yan