Optimizing the travel environment with electric bicycles and replacing charging modes is worth looking forward to

This year's government work report proposes to continuously improve the ecological environment and promote green and low-carbon development. As a green mode of transportation, two wheeled electric vehicles are gradually becoming a popular choice for more and more people. According to a survey, the current number of electric bicycles in Qingdao is nearly 2 million, and while the number continues to increase, it is also facing a series of problems. Due to insufficient supporting hardware facilities and repeated bans on home charging, Zhang Junxu, a member of the Political Consultative Conference of Shinan District in Qingdao and the Director of Qingdao Operations, suggested that Qingdao should promote the construction of two rounds of battery swapping facilities, especially the new charging mode of "replacing charging with replacement", to fundamentally improve the safety of electric bicycles.

Improving Green Travel and Low Carbon Development: Electric Vehicle Battery Exchange is an Important Strategy
According to the "14th Five Year Plan" for comprehensive transportation development in Qingdao, it is explicitly proposed to build a modern comprehensive transportation system that is safe, convenient, efficient, green, and economical, and actively build an international comprehensive transportation hub city with global competitiveness. At present, the number of electric bicycles in Qingdao is nearly 2 million, gradually becoming one of the main ways for citizens to travel in their daily lives, especially in the morning and evening rush hour when traffic congestion is more obvious.
Combining with the overall plan of the 14th Five Year Plan, increasing the proportion of slow and green travel in Qingdao is an important means to promote electric bicycles throughout the city. Through preliminary visits and research, Zhang Junxu found that the main difficulties currently hindering the rapid development of electric bicycles in Qingdao are the lack of hardware infrastructure construction and the lack of certain fire safety knowledge among some citizens.
Insufficient promotion efforts and inconsistent standards constrain the slow and difficult implementation of battery swapping models
In addition to fire safety issues, due to the transition period of the new national standard, the standards and quality of electric vehicles and battery products are uneven, making it difficult to meet the actual electricity needs of different groups. There is a lack of unified policy control, resulting in the accelerated circulation of non-standard products and the emergence of illegal electricity usage on site.
In addition, during the research, Zhang Junxu also found that the promotion of the new battery swapping model is insufficient. Due to the dual influence of policies and the market, most properties in Qingdao currently charge electricity prices and venue rent according to commercial models, resulting in operating costs of points far higher than the cost of battery swapping cabinets and batteries. Operating companies set high prices to maintain balance, resulting in limited acceptance by residents. In addition, the competition and squeeze of non-standard batteries and illegal charging have hindered the promotion of service projects.
The prospect of "replacement charging" is broad, and pilot cities have already tested it
In response to the above issues, Zhang Junxu suggests that Qingdao should vigorously promote the new charging model of "replacement charging". Compared to the traditional battery swapping mode, this new mode adopts more professional and safe battery swapping cabinet equipment, with a systematic safety and fire protection system, which can achieve real-time identification, elimination, and alarm of safety hazards, and root out fire safety problems. The device is smaller and supports the same number of electric bicycles, while the battery swapping cabinet requires less than one tenth of the space for centralized charging. The device has a high level of intelligence and can achieve online supervision.
Some cities in the province have started pilot projects. Taking Xiaoha battery swapping as an example, the blue Xiaoha charging cabinet covers an area of over one square meter, which is more than one person tall and does not take up too much space. It is equipped with 12 batteries, and the charging cabinet can fully charge the batteries that users replace in just over two hours. Setting up one to two charging cabinets in the community can solve the common problems of insufficient space, low charging efficiency, and unsafe charging in most communities.
These Xiaoha battery swapping cabinets adopt a combination of intelligent battery swapping cabinets and fast charging piles, relying on a sharing mode to provide targeted solutions for different types of charging needs of community users. Achieve universal compatibility between new and old electric vehicles, charging and replacing them as needed. At the same time, intelligent platforms such as 24-hour remote monitoring, smoke alarms, and sprinkler devices can effectively reduce safety risks during community charging processes.
Playing a Good Combination Fist to Optimize the Travel Environment and Assist Qingdao in Green and Low Carbon Development
The promotion of a new model requires efforts from multiple parties. Zhang Junxu believes that in order to truly implement "replacement charging" in Qingdao, relevant functional departments need to strike a "combination punch" from multiple aspects. "Introduce corresponding laws and regulations to provide legal basis and evidence for management, increase crackdown on illegal charging behavior, special subsidies for battery swapping enterprises and residents' battery swapping behavior, and play a 'combination punch' from multiple aspects." Zhang Junxu told reporters that for the tram swapping type government, some substantive dividend policies can also be implemented, including opening a green channel for eligible tram swapping types to be registered, put on the road, and included in the catalog, and accelerating the administrative approval process.
At the same time, relevant government departments should establish a real-time monitoring platform for battery information to comprehensively improve battery quality. Through a unified regulatory platform, promote the integration of two wheeled batteries and charging and swapping facilities into the network, and carry out full lifecycle management of electric bicycle batteries, blocking the use of low-quality batteries, high-capacity batteries, and recycled batteries from the root, and enhancing governance capabilities through digital technology. Increase subsidies for the elimination and replacement of vehicles that exceed the standard, encourage private purchases of electric scooters through market-oriented means, and guide the gradual replacement of existing models with electric scooters.
The 2022 Qingdao Municipal Government Work Report proposes that Qingdao should strive towards the goal of "hosting a conference well, revitalizing a city", and building a modern international metropolis. Deepening the pilot of green city construction and development, and fighting the tough battle of green and low-carbon transformation are the key tasks of the government in 2022. Qingdao is the second batch of low-carbon pilot cities in China and also the second batch of low-carbon transportation system construction cities determined by the Ministry of Transport. "Increasing the proportion of slow and green travel in Qingdao and creating a new mode of transportation, the 'replacement charging' mode of electric bicycles will be a new green and low-carbon development model." Zhang Junxu introduced that its advantages are also worth looking forward to.