China H1 2026 Charging Service Electricity Use Up 56.9% to 81 Billion kWh; Infrastructure at 23.06 Million
In the first half of 2026, China's charging and swapping service electricity consumption reached 81 billion kWh, up 56.9% year-on-year, while internet data service consumption hit 49.4 billion kWh, up 44%, together lifting total social electricity use by 0.9 percentage points, the National Energy Administration reported on July 30. As of end-June, total electric vehicle charging infrastructure stood at 23.057 million units, a 43.2% increase, including 5.009 million public units and 18.048 million private units. High-power charging guns exceeded 180,000, and county-level charging coverage reached 98.61%.
In the first half of 2026, driven by the rapid development of high-tech industries such as new energy vehicles and artificial intelligence, electricity consumption in the charging and swapping service sector and the internet data service sector grew strongly, reaching 81 billion kWh and 49.4 billion kWh respectively, up 56.9% and 44% year-on-year. Together, they contributed 0.9 percentage points to the growth of total social electricity consumption. The National Energy Administration released these figures at a press conference on July 30.
As of the end of June 2026, the total number of electric vehicle charging infrastructure units in China reached 23.057 million, up 43.2% year-on-year. Among them, public charging facilities numbered 5.009 million, up 22.3%, with a total rated power of 247 million kW and an average power per gun of approximately 49.35 kW. Private charging facilities totaled 18.048 million, up 50.4%, with an installed capacity of 155 million kVA.
In terms of high-power charging facility construction, as of the end of June 2026, more than 180,000 high-power charging guns had been built nationwide, accelerating the formation of a high-power charging infrastructure system. Regarding county and township charging network coverage, the coverage rate of county-level charging facilities rose to 98.61%, and the capacity to guarantee charging services in township areas steadily improved.
The "Three-Year Doubling Action Plan for Electric Vehicle Charging Facility Service Capacity (2025-2027)" proposes adding 160,000 new DC charging guns in cities nationwide by the end of 2027, including 10,000 high-power charging guns. The "15th Five-Year Plan for New Energy System Construction" calls for improving fast-slow complementary, smart and open charging infrastructure, with the target of 40 million charging infrastructure units by 2030.
The "15th Five-Year Plan for New Energy System Construction" specifies that by 2030, China's vehicle-grid interactive aggregated adjustable charging capacity will reach approximately 50 million kW, marking the transition of vehicle-energy integration from the exploration phase to the large-scale implementation phase.
As of July 30, 2026, some charging pile concept stocks have disclosed their first-half 2026 performance data. Statistics show that charging pile concept stocks with net profit growth or a turnaround from loss in the first half of 2026 include Yinhe Electronics, ST Changyuan, Jingquanhua, TELD, and Sieyuan Electric.
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