Recently, there has been a steady stream of news about the large-scale construction of charging piles in various places, and it is said that Shanghai plans to build more than 6,000 by next year. At this year's National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference sessions, Liu Zhenya, chairman of State Grid, stated that the construction of charging and battery-swap facilities for new energy vehicles will be opened to society — "anyone can build them." This means that social capital can compete with State Grid on the same stage in the fields of fast charging, slow charging, and battery swapping, which will play a positive role in promoting the rapid layout of charging and battery-swap facilities. Affected by this news, the new energy vehicle industry chain sector has performed eye-catchingly recently, with many individual stocks hitting the daily limit at one point.

　　Between electric vehicles and charging piles, a dilemma similar to "which came first, the chicken or the egg" has always existed. On the one hand, many people believe that the biggest bottleneck in the development of electric vehicles is that the layout of charging and battery-swap facilities is not extensive enough. Charging piles are not seen everywhere like gas stations, and when an electric vehicle is driven out and cannot find a place to charge or swap batteries, it is really inconvenient. On the other hand, after all, the use of electric vehicles is not yet widespread, and there are not many private electric vehicles that can actually run on the road. If a large number of charging piles are built, they can easily sit idle or even fall into disuse.

　　The opening of charging and battery-swap facility construction for new energy vehicles to society is undoubtedly good news. However, the construction of charging and battery-swap facilities cannot be "left unregulated."

　　First, charging and battery-swap facilities are equipment with a certain level of technical content. Social capital cannot invest in and build them simply by having money; this requires strict project approval by the competent electric power authorities. If the entry threshold is not strictly controlled, substandard charging and battery-swap facilities will not only fail to meet the rapidly expanding charging needs of electric vehicles, but may also cause certain damage to electric vehicles and, in serious cases, may even lead to safety accidents.

　　Second, different construction entities may lead to the problem of inconsistent product specifications. In this regard, the relevant government departments should unify technical standards in advance to conveniently meet the charging and battery-swap needs of different vehicle models. Relevant departments should also have an overall consideration for the placement of charging and battery-swap facilities, achieving "wide coverage without chaos." In this way, they can both balance the charging and battery-swap needs of various urban areas and avoid investment and construction failures by social capital. At the same time, in the face of the rapid expansion of charging facilities, State Grid must also do a good job in "power grid expansion" services, ensuring both the charging needs of safety vehicles and the safety and reliability of the power grid.

　　In addition, attracting social capital to participate in investment and construction also requires a good business model. The site selection, construction, repair, and maintenance of charging stations and charging piles all require a large amount of manpower, material resources, and financial resources. It is estimated that the market size of the entire upstream, midstream, and downstream industrial chain of the charging pile construction industry is nearly 10 billion yuan. Power grid companies, electric vehicle manufacturers, electric power departments, and charging equipment providers all need to play important roles in this industry. Only through the joint efforts of multiple parties can an effective charging pile business model be established.