Shenzhen, China MandatesThat Real Estate Developers Install E-Car Chargers In Each New Parking Space

If this happened in the US or Europe, there would be howls of outrage. First that the government was mandating anything, second that it was presuming to dictate the future of automotive strategy, third that it was interfering with energy policy and fourth, that it was making private sector real estate developers pay for environmental programs.

But this is China. That this is happening in China is, of course, interesting, because it is the world's largest market for any number of products. It is also a country with an increasingly worrisome pollution problem, one that is affecting health and productivity. But to those not necessarily attuned to the nuances of Chinese geography, the fact that this is being done in Shenzhen is of particular significance.

Shenzhen hardly existed a generation ago. It is located between Guangzhou and Hong Kong and it was created to house the factories - and their workers - who have supplanted western industry. When westerners speak of the threat posed by Chinese manufactures, they are referring first and foremost to Shenzhen and the region around it. This is the heart, muscle and brain of Chinese manufacturing dominance.

So when the officials who run Shenzhen say that real estate developers will now pay to install e-car rechargers in every parking space for every apartment they build, you can rest assured that this carries with it the power of authority - and the sense that you may be witnessing the future. JL

Li Xuena reports in Caixin:

New residential communities in Shenzhen will have as many electric car charging facilities as parking spaces, an official at the southern city's economic planner says.
Shenzhen is leading the push to make charging facilities standard at new residential communities to prepare for what it expects to be a burst in the growth of private electric car use. Developers who fail to install enough charging stations cannot receive approval for the sale of their units, said Lu Xiangzhen, assistant to the director of new energy car office at the Shenzhen Development and Reform Bureau. The city government will release the rule on charging facilities before August. This means the number of charging spots will match the number of parking spaces in all new residential communities in the city, even though most families own gas-fueled cars.
"Considering the future need of electric car owners in Shenzhen, we have decided to settle the matter in one step," Lu said.
The charging facilities in residential communities will be slow-charging, which allow electric cars to be ready in about 9 hours and are more suitable for private car use. Developers will bear the installation cost.
"Each costs a few thousand yuan," Lu said. The cost will not be too significant for property developments because they can generate profit from maintaining the facilities over the long run, he said.
As of the end of March, Shenzhen had 6,958 new energy cars on its roads, official statistics show. The government anticipates the number to increase to 25,000 by 2015, out of which 14,500 will be for private use.
But the city now only has 81 fast-charging stations, where batteries can be topped up in less than an hour. The stations require special transformers and cost more to build. Shenzhen has only seven fast-charging stations for public use. The rest are for public transport. It only has fewer than 3,000 slow-charging stations for privately owned cars.
The lack of charging facilities has become a major obstacle blocking the expansion of electric cars, Lu said. The city plans to follow up with a series of preferential policies for electric car owners, including reduced parking and highway fees. It also plans to increase taxes on traditional cars.
The Shenzhen government issued its first document on electric car charging facilities in 2010, when it required the number of charging spots to be at least 5 percent of the total of parking spaces. It later raised the requirement to 20 percent.
Previously the China Southern Power Grid, one half of the country's power transmission duopoly, was in charge of building slow-charging facilities in residential communities. But it soon found the returns on these projects were low and negotiations with developers and management companies to build facilities in residential compounds often took a long time.
The new approach – having property developers take care of slow-charging facilities – is more efficient, Lu said.