Charging days faster than refueling, getting closer and closer | Insight Research

01 The Arrival of the New National Standard Accelerates the Era of Fast Charging

Car owners have always complained about the slow charging of new energy vehicles, dreaming of the day when charging can be as convenient and fast as refueling.

The introduction of the new national standard has given the industry a shot in the arm, and charging to full capacity in a few minutes will soon become a reality.

01 The Arrival of the New National Standard Accelerates the Era of Fast Charging

Car owners have always complained about the slow charging of new energy vehicles, dreaming of the day when charging can be as convenient and fast as refueling.

The introduction of the new national standard has given the industry a shot in the arm, and charging to full capacity in a few minutes will soon become a reality.

Recently, the release of the new national standard for charging has sparked discussions in the market. This new national standard is actually a brand-new upgrade to the existing 2015 version. The core changes after the upgrade are as follows: 1) The current DC charging interface technology scheme in China is still used to ensure universal compatibility between new and old charging interfaces; 2) The maximum charging current has been increased from 250A to 800A, and the charging power has been increased to 800kW. 3) Further improve the environmental adaptability, safety, and reliability of the conductive charging connection device, and meet the actual needs of DC low-power and high-power charging.

In recent years, the popularity of new energy vehicles has been rapid, but the issue of charging has always been a pain point. Long charging time, low proportion of public DC charging piles, imbalance between vehicle and charging piles, all of these have hindered the development of new energy vehicles. However, this new version of the national standard clearly indicates the improvement of charging current and power, marking the imminent arrival of fast charging.

However, in order to better drive the landing of the fast charging industry, it is not only necessary to have coordination between the automobile end and the battery end, but also the coordinated development of charging pile infrastructure and the entire upstream and downstream of the industry chain. Especially for charging piles, which are the most important part of energy supplementation, with the increasing demand from consumers for rapid energy supplementation, the demand for high-power DC charging has surged.

In order to solve the user's "charging anxiety", it is necessary to increase the number of charging piles on one hand, and on the other hand, to shorten the charging time. And to shorten the charging time, high-power DC charging piles are naturally needed, because the higher the power, the faster the charging speed, which can help users achieve a refueling-like charging experience.

Charging piles can be divided into slow charging, fast charging, and supercharging according to different charging speeds. Slow charging refers to AC charging piles, while fast charging and supercharging refer to the DC charging piles we usually talk about. Supercharging is nothing more than DC piles with higher power. According to JZ Research's article "The Opportunity to Replicate Energy Storage Charging Piles | JZ Research" emphasizes that there is a great opportunity for charging piles to go global, and overseas quantity and price have more advantages than domestic ones. In terms of structure, the demand for public DC charging piles in both domestic and foreign markets will only become more and more vigorous, especially for high-power DC charging piles.

With the implementation of this document, the development of high-power DC charging piles will become faster and faster.

02 Under the Trend of High Power, Charging Module Companies Must Keep Up or Fall Behind

Charging modules are the core components of high-power DC charging piles. In the past, the requirements for charging power were not high. Although charging modules belong to the highest technological barrier in charging piles, low-end and homogeneous competition is still fierce. With the arrival of high power, the requirements for charging modules are also increasing. The mainstream charging module in the industry is still 20KW, but mainstream module companies such as Tonghe Technology, Infineon, and Youyou Green Energy have gradually iterated their products to 30/40KW, and even developed 60KW modules. In addition to power, the technology is also gradually transitioning from traditional air-cooling mode to liquid-cooling mode. With the advent of the fast charging era, companies that have the capability to develop and produce high-power modules and adopt liquid cooling methods will benefit more.

The charging pile industry, similar to other manufacturing industries such as photovoltaics, will inevitably face homogenization and overcapacity after a certain period of development. At this time, product upgrades are the only way out.

Domestic listed companies that produce modules include Tonghe Technology, Shenghong Shares, Daotong Technology, and so on. Their performance in the first half of this year has already been realized.

In a detailed analysis of Tonghe Technology's semi-annual report in the article "Charging Piles, Finally Realizing Profits" by Jianzhi Research, its revenue for 2023H1 was 330 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 57.95%, and its net profit attributable to shareholders increased by 3182.19% year-on-year. Among them, the revenue from charging modules was 189 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 142.74%; the gross profit margin was 25.45%. From the performance, it can be seen that charging piles have brought substantial performance growth to the company.

In addition to Tonghe Technology, Daotong Technology achieved a revenue of 1.448 billion yuan in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 40.13%; the net profit attributable to shareholders was 189 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 120.69%; Shenghong Shares achieved a revenue of 1.102 billion yuan in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 100.89%; the net profit attributable to shareholders was 181 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 166.15%.

In summary, the new national standard is within expectations, but its implementation will make the development of the industry more clear. As the charging speed continues to increase, only by keeping up with the demand through technological upgrades in various links such as vehicle manufacturers, charging pile companies, and various components, can the industry thrive.