This paper systematically reviews the key developmental stages of Chinas new energy vehicle (NEV) charging and battery swapping industry, from its initial exploration to high-quality development, it analyzes technological breakthroughs, market expansion, and policy support at each stage. The study reveals that the industry has progressed through three stages: the initial exploration phase (before 2014), the comprehensive deployment phase (2014–2020), and the high-quality development phase (since 2021). The industry has established a diverse energy replenishment system centered on charging, with battery swapping serving as a supplementary approach. By the end of 2024, China had constructed 12.818 million charging piles and 4,443 battery swapping stations, forming the largest charging and swapping network in the world. Policy implementation has achieved remarkable results, including rapid expansion of infrastructure scale, continuous technological upgrades, diverse business model innovations, and ongoing improvements in user experience. However, challenges persist, such as insufficient standardization, profitability issues in business models, and coordination barriers. Drawing on international experiences such as the EU’s unified charging standards and U.S. federal and state-level coordinated policies, combined with industry innovation trends, this paper forecasts future development directions. These include widespread adoption of high-power charging technology, intelligent charging system upgrades, integration of photovoltaic, energy storage, and charging, diversified operational ecosystems for charging/swapping facilities, deep integration of virtual power plants, and construction of comprehensive energy stations. Policy recommendations include strengthening standardization, optimizing regional coordination and subsidy mechanisms, improving participation mechanisms for virtual power plants, promoting interoperability of charging/swapping infrastructure, and enhancing environmental protection and resource recycling.
Wang et al. (Thu,) studied this question.