The Future Charging Solution For Electric Vehicles In China:An Comparative Study

Introduction-The electric car is undeniably the industrial project towards which expectations are today the strongest.It has been several years now that manufacturers,States and more recently the general public,consider this mode of propulsion as the solution of the future to the problem of pollution(CO2 emission,fine particles...)and dependence on fossil fuels.Annual sales of electric vehicles,up about 60% in 2017,have significantly exceeded one million units worldwide,half of them in China.They even exceed 10% of sales of new vehicles in three geographical areas: in Norway,in the Chinese cities of Beijing,Shanghai and Shenzhen,and finally in the main cities of California.1.6 million electric cars were sold worldwide in 2017,a historic increase of 74% accounting for 2% of new car sales.But,many constraints still represent a brake on the development of this technology.Indeed,despite the obvious progress made in this area,electric vehicles remain expensive,have poor performance with limited autonomy.Moreover,China electricity still depend on coal which mean that the electricity which charge electric cars is not clean.Last and most importantly,there is a lack of infrastructure to recharge anywhere and quickly.Purpose-The purpose of this study is to provide results that can help answer the question "What is the future charging solution for electric cars in China".To do so,it was important to first analyse the automotive industry to date.A study of the US and European markets was conducted and compared to the Chinese market to analyse the differences and similarities of the markets and see where China should look to remain competitive in the coming years.The study of the markets is focused on 3 fundamental pillboxes: the electric car industry,the charging infrastructures and finally the electricity production of these three strategic zones.Methodology-To achieve the goal of current research,a qualitative approach has been realized.Indeed,throughout my thesis,an expert in the field of electric car and charging stations gave me his support and his expert eye to guide me to the best in my research.Our many appointments allowed me to lead the right way and to arrive at feasible results as to the solution of the future for the charging of electric cars.Results-After analysing all aspects of the global market,I came to the fact that even though the electric car market is booming,it is constantly facing the same problem: batteries with low autonomy,charging infrastructures that are too slow,a production of electrical energy always linked to nuclear or coal.This is why,after a long debate with Mr.Zeng,I achieved several results:1)Increase the autonomy of Chinese batteries: The researchers propose many other positive electrode chemistries such as fluorinated compounds,and negative electrode oxides of silicon or tin or even lithium metal.An autonomy multiplied by at least a factor 2 seems conceivable.2)Induction charging The recharge of the future may be in the induction charging.No longer need to connect a cable,it would be enough to place the vehicle above a terminal that transmits electricity by simple proximity contact.Many car manufacturers are already strongly advanced to launch this kind of technology.China,for its part,seems slightly exceeded by this process.Here's why,this represents a future solution to electric car charging.3)Faster charging battery A big problem mentioned throughout this thesis is the fact that electric cars charge too slowly.Indeed,even with fast chargers,it is still necessary to wait a few hours before having a fully charged battery.This makes electric cars less attractive than petrol cars and also makes long distances impossible.That is why,in the future,China will have to develop faster chargers.Some research explain that some countries are developing a new process that would test lithium-ion batteries and improve the quality and performance of currently used energy storage devices.4)More Stations at the right place(data collection)Even if we know that people mostly charge their cars at homes,it is desired to have a practical and profitable charge in order to increase the adoption of these new cars.When you charge your car out of your resident,the charging stations should be able to collect data in order to optimize these stations but also to understand consumer habits and to respond to them as best as possible.I developed 4 ideas linked with big data to determine where should be the future installation for charging infrastructure.5)Change in the electricity production My last recommendation is the change in the way electricity is generated.Indeed,after analysing the sources of production in China,it is possible to conclude that China still produces too much via the use of coal(+ 50% of production).Thus,the problem is not only in the creation of a larger capacity battery,nor in faster charging,inductive charging but directly to the source of power generation.If China really wants to reduce its CO2 emissions by the electric car,it must also think about changing the way it produces electricity.I come to the idea that maybe a quicker solution would be the creation of charging stations that would charge Chinese electric cars directly via solar panels Contribution-This research helps to shed light on the various problems that the electric car industry faces in charging them.Indeed,this thesis proposes long-term solutions and solutions towards which China should turn to be an even more important player in the electric car market.As the world's largest market,China is an example for the countries of the world in the transition to new technologies and must therefore constantly improve and be the first in terms of innovation.