South Korea: Breakthrough in car battery technology: 12-minute charge, 804 km range

On September 6, technology media Notebook Check published a blog post yesterday (September 5), reporting that the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and LG Energy Solution (LG Energy Solution, announced the development of a new lithium metal battery electrolyte that can allow electric vehicles to charge in 12 minutes and travel 500 miles (about 804.7 kilometers).

EU: Cross-border charging network integration accelerates

China Business Network reported on September 16 that the EU has taken an important step in reducing transport emissions from road freight. Apostolos Tzitzikostas, EU Commissioner for Transport and Tourism The Clean Transport Corridors initiative, designed to accelerate the deployment of heavy-duty vehicle charging infrastructure along key freight corridors, will be launched. The initiative will begin with the Scandinavian-Mediterranean and North Sea-Baltic corridors as its first test cases. Endorsed by the nine member states along the two transport corridors, the Clean Transport Corridors initiative will be highlighted in Brussels at the signing ceremony of a ministerial declaration on truck charging infrastructure. The declaration sets out commitments to strengthen cooperation and address key challenges, including lengthy planning and permitting processes, limited site availability, fragmented funding, insufficient grid capacity, and delays in grid connection. It represents both a joint political commitment and a strategic guide for current and future truck charging infrastructure policies.

United States: New Jersey invests $20 million to promote school bus electrification and charging facilities

On September 20, the New Jersey state government announced a $20 million investment to support the replacement of electric school buses and the construction of charging infrastructure. $10 million of this will be used to subsidize school districts and bus operators to phase out diesel school buses through the "Electric School Bus Funding Program," and another $10 million will be used to build public charging stations in diverse residential areas and transportation hubs. This initiative aims to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality, with a particular focus on the health of children in disadvantaged communities. $10 million will be used for school Districts and transit contractors can receive up to $350,000 in grants per school bus and charging station; another $10 million comes from the DEP's Electric Vehicle Charging Grant Program to install charging stations near multi-unit residences and transit stations, with grants of up to $100,000 per fast-charging port.

Shanxi: The Yangquan Suburban District People's Government Office issued the "Yangquan Suburban District Charging and Swapping Facilities Shortcomings Pilot Reward and Subsidy Funding Utilization Plan"

On September 9th, the General Office of the People's Government of the Suburban Areas of Yangquan City, Shanxi Province, issued a notice regarding the use of the "Yangquan Suburban Area Regional Charging and Swapping Facility Shortcomings Pilot Program Reward and Subsidy Funding Plan." The document clarifies that the reward and subsidy funds referred to in this plan are special fiscal funds allocated by the state to support the pilot program to address shortcomings in regional charging and swapping facilities in the suburbs. The funds will be primarily used to enhance the service support capabilities of public charging and swapping infrastructure, stimulate the consumption potential of new energy vehicles in the pilot area and surrounding areas, and actively cultivate the promotion and application of new technologies and models in the pilot area. The document also specifies the recipients of the rewards and subsidies and the subsidy standards.

Guangzhou: Notice from the Bureau of Industry and Information Technology on the Issuance of the "Guangzhou Work Plan for the Construction of a National Pilot City for Large-Scale Application of Vehicle-Internet Interaction (2025-2027)"

On July 8, the Gansu Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Gansu Provincial Market Supervision Administration issued a notice on "Adjusting the Pricing Mechanism for Electric Vehicle Charging and Swapping Service Fees."

It clarifies: (1) Full implementation of market-regulated pricing. Starting August 1, 2025, government-guided pricing for electric vehicle charging and swapping service fees will be abolished. Charging standards will be determined independently by the market based on factors such as supply and demand, charging and swapping facility construction costs, and operating and maintenance expenses. Charging and swapping service fees will be charged based on the amount of electricity charged. (2) Electricity charges and service fees will be itemized separately. Charging and swapping fees will be charged using an "electricity charge + charging and swapping service fee" model. Electricity charges will continue to follow national and provincial electricity pricing policies, and charging and swapping service fees will be separately listed and publicly disclosed by the operating unit.

On September 15, the Guangzhou Municipal Industry and Information Technology Bureau of Guangdong Province issued a notice regarding the "Guangzhou City Work Plan for Building a National Pilot City for Large-Scale Application of Vehicle-Grid Interaction (2025-2027)." The document clearly states that by the end of 2025, the city aims to have 600 smart and orderly charging stations connected to the government regulatory platform, 130 smart and orderly battery swap stations, and 28,000 smart and orderly charging piles.

The document states that it will promote the construction of pilot stations for intelligent and orderly charging. It will also promote the integration of charging and swapping operator platforms into the municipal virtual power plant service platform. The goal is to build and renovate 600 intelligent and orderly charging stations and 130 intelligent and orderly swapping stations by the end of 2025, with a grid-connected capacity of 850,000 kilovolt-amperes. By the end of 2026, it aims to build and renovate 750 intelligent and orderly charging stations and 150 intelligent and orderly swapping stations, with a grid-connected capacity of 1,000,000 kilovolt-amperes. By the end of 2027, it aims to build and renovate 900 intelligent and orderly charging stations and 180 intelligent and orderly swapping stations.

The document also emphasizes providing construction subsidies of up to 50% of the V2G equipment cost for various V2G charging and swapping facilities, based on the rated discharge power of the equipment. Investments in upgrading municipal-level charging facility supervision platforms with V2G equipment monitoring capabilities will be subsidized up to 50% of the platform upgrade investment. Discharge subsidies of up to 5 yuan per kilowatt-hour will be provided for various V2G charging and swapping facilities. The total annual subsidy amount will not exceed 20 million yuan.

Qinghai: Before 2030, centralized charging and swapping facilities that implement a two-part electricity price system will be exempted from demand (capacity) electricity charges.

On September 15, the Qinghai Provincial Development and Reform Commission issued a notice to solicit public opinions on the construction of a high-quality charging infrastructure system in Qinghai Province. Announcement of Opinions and Suggestions on the "Action Plan to Promote New Energy Vehicle Consumption (2025-2027)." The document clarifies the need to strengthen the guarantee of energy supply. Peak and valley time-of-use electricity pricing policies will be strictly implemented, and demand (capacity) charges will be waived for centralized charging and swapping facilities using a two-part electricity price system until 2030. In accordance with the division of fiscal powers and expenditure responsibilities, cities and prefectures are encouraged to explore the establishment of a construction and operation subsidy mechanism linked to service quality and commensurate with financial resources, with priority support for the construction and operation of charging infrastructure in rural areas.

National Energy Administration: Issued the "Implementation Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of "Artificial Intelligence +" Energy"

On September 4, in order to thoroughly implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on the development of artificial intelligence, implement the relevant work requirements of the "Opinions of the State Council on Deeply Implementing the 'Artificial Intelligence Plus' Action Plan", seize major strategic opportunities for the development of artificial intelligence, highlight application orientation, accelerate the deep integration of artificial intelligence and the energy industry, and support high-quality development and high-level security of energy, the following opinions are put forward.

By 2027, an innovative system integrating energy and artificial intelligence will be initially established, the foundation for the coordinated development of computing power and electricity will be continuously consolidated, significant breakthroughs will be made in core energy technologies enabled by artificial intelligence, and their applications will become more extensive and in-depth.

By 2030, the overall specialized artificial intelligence technologies and applications in the energy sector will reach the world's leading level.

▲Source: National Energy Administration, Charging and Swapping Research

The State Council issued a letter approving the implementation plan for the pilot program of comprehensive reform of the market-based allocation of factors in some regions of the country (Implementation Plan for the Pilot Program of Comprehensive Reform of the Market-based Allocation of Factors in Chengdu)

On September 11, the State Council issued its reply (Guohan [2025] No. 86) regarding the pilot implementation plan for comprehensive reform of market-based allocation of factors in certain regions nationwide. The Chengdu Municipal Pilot Implementation Plan for Comprehensive Reform of Market-Based Allocation of Factors involves the battery charging and swapping industry. The plan emphasizes accelerating the construction of charging and swapping infrastructure and establishing an "Internet + Charging Infrastructure" intelligent service platform. It also promotes the development of a new power system and supports the large-scale utilization of new energy storage. It also accelerates the digital transformation of energy management and enhances the smartness of urban energy. Incentive policies will be introduced for social capital investment in standardized charging and swapping, and hydrogen storage and refueling facilities.

▲Source: Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China

EVPICA: Charging and swapping infrastructure will increase by 37.8% year-on-year in August 2025

Regarding the operation of public charging infrastructure, by the end of August 2025, the total number of electric vehicle charging infrastructure (guns) in my country reached 17.348 million, a year-on-year increase of 53.5%. Among them, there were 4.316 million public charging facilities (guns), a year-on-year increase of 37.8%; and 13.032 million private charging facilities, a year-on-year increase of 59.6%.

Regarding the operation of public charging infrastructure battery swap stations in provinces, regions and cities, the public charging infrastructure battery swap stations built in the top 10 regions of Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Beijing, Shandong, Shanghai, Anhui, Chongqing, Sichuan and Hubei account for 66.6%.

Comparing charging infrastructure with electric vehicles, from January to August 2025, the number of charging infrastructure units increased by 4.53 million, while domestic sales of new energy vehicles reached 8.088 million. This indicates that both charging infrastructure and new energy vehicles will continue to grow rapidly. The ratio of charging piles to vehicles is 1:1.8, indicating that charging infrastructure construction can basically meet the rapid development of new energy vehicles.

▲Source: China Charging Alliance