Electric vehicles drew 163 million kWh from China’s expressway chargers during the National Day holiday, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said on October 8, 2026. Between October 1 and October 7, the 62,700 highway charging connectors on the national monitoring platform handled 6.711 million charging sessions. Average daily charging reached 23.2566 million kWh, up 51.42% from the same holiday in 2025.
Key Takeaways
- China’s highway chargers delivered 163 million kWh over the October 1–7 holiday.
- Average daily charging rose 51.42% year on year, and the first day set a holiday record.
- About 11,000 high-power units were added at service areas in the first eight months of 2026.
- China targets more than 40 million charging facilities, including about 300,000 high-power units, by 2030.
Key Figures
- Period: 00:00 October 1 to 24:00 October 7, 2026.
- Highway connectors monitored: 62,700.
- Charging sessions: 6.711 million.
- Energy delivered: 163 million kWh, or 23.2566 million kWh per day (+51.42% year on year).
- First day of the holiday: 28.0469 million kWh, up 60.40% and a record for a single holiday day.
- Expressway service areas: about 89,000 charging facilities installed; about 11,000 high-power units added from January to August 2026, roughly equal to the total built before this year.
On EVDANCE’s own arithmetic, the average session delivered about 24 kWh, and each monitored connector handled around 15 sessions a day during the holiday.
Background
Before the holiday, the NEA asked local authorities to finish maintenance on highway chargers, add mobile charging units in advance and improve traffic guidance at busy service areas. The government also restated its 2030 goals: more than 40 million charging facilities, about 300,000 of them high-power units, enough to support over 110 million EVs. Upgrading expressway service-area chargers and raising the share of fast charging are named priorities for the 2026–2030 period.
What It Means
Holiday peaks are the stress test for corridor charging. The data shows that demand concentrates on a few days a year, and that site uptime and maintenance matter as much as the number of connectors. Operators planning highway or destination sites should size grid connections and queue space for these peaks, not for average days.
For smaller roadside sites, hotels and rest stops, a compact DC unit such as the EV-RHDC30K-L (about 20–30 kW, OCPP 1.6J) can add useful top-up capacity where a large transformer is not available. Our commercial EV charging page explains how we support site projects.
Related Reading
- EV Charging News: BYD Reaches 2,000 Highway Flash-Charging Stations in China
- How to Use a DC Fast Charger: Step by Step
- Where to Install an EV Charging Station: Site Selection Guide
Sources & Standards
- National Energy Administration — Average daily highway NEV charging up 51.42% over National Day holiday (Oct 8, 2026)
- National Energy Administration — Highway charging on first day of National Day holiday up 60.4% (Oct 2, 2026)
- The State Council of the PRC — China’s highway NEV charging volume posts strong growth over National Day holiday (Oct 8, 2026)
