[Anchor]

In China, a week-long National Day holiday has been underway since October 1. With a large number of travelers using cars and the rapid growth of electric vehicle adoption, a major charging crisis is unfolding across the country.

Correspondent Han Sang-woo reports from Beijing.

[Reporter]

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

Sights like this are not difficult to find across highways.

Drivers who managed to make it into a highway service area's EV charging station received a waiting number of 99.

Complaints flooded in, with drivers saying things like, "It took 5 hours just to wait for my turn to charge," and "My car ran out of battery while waiting."

[EV Driver: I 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've already been waiting in line for over 3 hours. We have no idea when our turn will come.]

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

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

Ninety percent of these travelers moved by vehicle, resulting in severe traffic congestion alongside the EV charging chaos.

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

As the world's largest producer of electric vehicles, China is also at the forefront of EV adoption.

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

Consequently, demand for EV charging has surged explosively, but highways still fail to cope when charging vehicles flock to them during major holidays and long weekends.

The Chinese government has deployed additional emergency charging equipment at highway service areas experiencing surges in charging vehicles and advised drivers to utilize less congested nighttime hours to charge in advance.

(Video Journalist: Choi Deok-hyun, Video Source: Weibo @1024Zhuanyuan)