China leads in EV charging infrastructure development

China’s EVSE stock was composed of 52% alternating current (AC) EVSE and 48% direct current (DC) EVSE, with a substantially higher percentage of DC EVSE compared to Europe (14%) and the US (14%). Notably, by the end of 2021, China hosted 81% of the world’s public DC EVSE installations.

Chinese cities also dominate the rankings of cities with the greatest number of public EVSE at the end of 2021. The top 20 cities made up 35% of the global total, with 17 of them located in China. Meanwhile, the United States was represented by only one city, and Europe had two cities in the list.

Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, and Beijing all contributed to China’s lead in the rankings, with each of these cities accounting for 4%, 3%, 3%, and 2% of the total global stock respectively. However, it was Shenzhen that held the top spot with 7% of the total global stock, making it the first city in the world to have more than 100,000 public EVSE installed by the end of 2021, with a total of 125,000 units.

*Source: A statistical view of public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in China through 2021 | The ICCT