At present, there is a large gap in overseas charging piles, high prices, and relatively scattered competition. Chinese charging pile companies have significant advantages in many aspects such as supply chain, technology, and cost. Many pile companies are closely watching this opportunity and going out to seek gold.

随着欧美国家排放法规逐渐趋严，各国推进车辆电动化转型势不可挡。在全球新能源汽车快速渗透普及的同时，部分海外地区补能基础设施建设却没能跟上。不少业内人士指出，当前，海外充电桩缺口较大，价格高且竞争格局相对分散，中国充电桩企业在供应链、技术、成本等多方面优势显著，多家桩企紧紧盯上这一机遇出海淘金。

China's manufacturing advantages are significant

It is understood that the current new energy vehicle charging market in the United States is mainly occupied by companies such as Tesla, ChargePoint, Blink, and EVgo. In the European electricity operation market, giants such as Shell, bp, Schneider, and ABB occupy a dominant position.

According to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, 31 European countries will register 3.009 million new energy passenger vehicles in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 16.2%, and the penetration rate of new energy vehicles will be 23.4%. The association predicts that by 2030, 3 out of every 5 cars in Europe will be new energy vehicles, and the penetration rate of new energy vehicles will reach 60%, far exceeding the global penetration rate of 26%.
However, even so, Liu Kai, deputy director of the technical department of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and director of the China Charging Alliance, told a reporter from China Energy News:"The vehicle-pile ratio in China is about 2.4: 1, of which the vehicle-pile ratio of public charging piles is about 7.5: 1. According to public information, the vehicle-pile ratio of public charging piles in Europe and the United States is about 15:1, and the gap is much larger than that in China."
Seeing the vast overseas market, in recent years, Chinese DC/AC pile companies such as Shenghong Co., Ltd., Daotong Technology, Juhua Technology, and Yingjie Electric have successively deployed European and American markets.
"China's charging pile industry supply chain is relatively complete and has obvious cost advantages. The quality of China's charging piles has been fully verified in various scenarios, and the quality and reliability are superior to overseas brands." Zhang Hong, a member of the Expert Committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, believes.
In Liu Kai's view, after more than ten years of development, the supply chain of China's charging pile industry has become increasingly mature. After domestic scale, multiple scenarios, and long-term application, the products have significant production cost advantages. Domestic companies will have greater gross profit and net profit when going abroad. There is room for improvement.
A research report by Industrial Securities pointed out that European and American customers are less sensitive to the price of charging piles, and the price of charging piles is higher. The price of overseas same-power charging piles is several times that of domestic charging piles. Taking 120kW DC charging piles as an example, the price of a 120kW charging pile overseas is converted to approximately RMB 464,000, which is significantly higher than the domestic price of 30,000 - 50,000 yuan. This feature attracts domestic manufacturers to deploy in European and American markets, which can greatly improve the profitability of domestic charging pile manufacturers.

Long certification cycle

In Liu Kai's view, with the rapid development of the charging industry, a large number of companies have emerged in China with the R & D, assembly and production capabilities of key parts and components of charging piles such as power modules and PCBA (control motherboards). China's charging pile products have undergone full testing and technological iteration in the domestic market. Many companies already have independently developed core technologies and patents and have carried out intellectual property layout overseas. Their advantages in DC charging technology are particularly obvious.

不过，由于市场环境和需求不同，中国充电桩产品出海也面对着不小的挑战。章弘提到：“充电桩出口跟纯电车类似，受到出口地政策限制。此外，本地化服务也带来的挑战，在海外私人桩占比六成到七成，客户会比较分散，而且服务费用较高。”
值得注意的是，受访人士均指出，At present, the requirements for the certification of charging piles at home and abroad are different. When Chinese charging piles go out to sea, they must first meet overseas market standards in the technical certification process. “海外对充电桩安全性要求非常严格，接口标准也各不相同，存在费用高、难度大、时间长等特点。”刘锴以产品认证环节举例表示，例如，充电桩产品出口欧盟需要获得CE认证，要经过认证申请、资料准备、产品检测、递交审核等流程，认证周期约3—5个月，认证费用约50万元人民币。出口美国则需要通过UL认证，认证周期约9—10个月，认证费用约100万元人民币。如果是公用事业侧项目，还需要对供应商进行额外认证，甚至拿到政府准入许可。
此外，兴业证券的研报还指出，国内桩企出口产品多是基于国标下的成熟产品，首先与海外的充电桩通信标准不一致，存在车桩不兼容、桩和运营系统不兼容的问题，其次欧标和美标对产品的环境可靠性、机械强度要求更高。

"Understand" overseas markets

Because market demand fell short of expectations and corporate profits fell, the current attitude of European and American companies towards electrification transformation was slightly hesitant. At the end of last year, many European and American auto giants and supply chain companies such as Ford Motor and General Motors announced that they would postpone some investment plans related to the electric vehicle industry, and some companies even decided to extend the sales time of fuel vehicles.

不过，在受访人士看来，充电基础设施需求依然旺盛，企业短期内的战略选择并不会使海外充电市场萎缩。“汽车的电动化和智能网联化是汽车工业发展的大趋势，虽然不同企业基于自身因素的考量而做出不同的投资策略，也对基础设施的布局有波动性影响，但是长远看，基础设施的需求量仍然很大。”刘锴说。
面对复杂的海外市场环境，刘锴提醒，Domestic charging pile companies must thoroughly understand the policies, technologies, standards, regulations, certification and after-sales requirements of the destination, and formulate a strategy based on the company's own characteristics and advantages. 。“这需要企业实时保持对目标国家的政策跟踪，并及时调整自身的经营策略，比如可以采取到当地建厂或者与当地企业开展合作提供关键零部件等模式。”
章弘表示：“充电桩行业正经历着快速的技术迭代，对于企业自身而言，可对大功率充电技术、无线充电技术等加速研发投入，以提高充电效率和用户体验。在海外布局方面，桩企需要根据自身实力，结合对海外市场的实地调查了解，可短期内专注于某一市场，不要漫天撒网。”

original title:Charging piles overseas gold rush