Waiting 5 Hours? EV 'Charging Chaos' Ruins Holiday

[Anchor]

In China, a week-long National Day holiday has been underway since five days ago. With the massive proliferation of electric vehicles, a charging chaos is unfolding on the highways.

Correspondent Han Sang-woo reports from Beijing.

[Reporter]

An entire family pushes a dead electric vehicle along the highway shoulder.

Sights like this are not difficult to see across various parts of the highway.

Drivers who finally managed to enter a highway rest stop's EV charging station were handed queue ticket number 99.

Complaints emerged such as "It took 5 hours just to wait for my turn to charge" and "My battery died while waiting."

[EV Driver: To think that we even have to pull a number ticket, this is truly absurd.]

[EV Driver: Seriously, seriously, do not buy an electric vehicle. These are all people lined up to charge. We have already been waiting in line for over 3 hours. Who knows when our turn will come.]

At some charging stations, fights broke out between drivers trying to charge first, prompting police to be dispatched.

During the week-long National Day holiday commemorating the founding of the country, which began on the 1st, the total number of passenger trips taken via various modes of transportation in China reached an astounding 2.1 billion.

Ninety percent of these trips are made by vehicle, leading to severe traffic congestion alongside the EV charging chaos.

In China, driving distances during holidays typically exceed 1,000 kilometers, making at least one additional charge essential.

As the world's largest EV producer, China also ranks at the highest level in EV adoption.

Last year, electric vehicles accounted for 53% of cars sold in the domestic market, totaling 13.2 million units, and over 60% of new car sales this year are EVs.

Demand for EV charging has surged explosively accordingly, but when charging vehicles flock to highways during public holidays and long weekends, the infrastructure still cannot cope.

The Chinese government has deployed additional emergency charging equipment at highway rest stops where charging vehicles congregate and urged drivers to use less congested nighttime hours to charge in advance.

(Video reporter: Choi Deok-hyun, Video source: Weibo @1024Zhuanyuan)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.