New mandatory efficiency standard reshapes China charging piles

A hard line on efficiency

China Economic Net reported the first mandatory energy efficiency national standard for charging infrastructure, GB 46519-2025, was released and will take effect on November 1, 2026. It covers alternating and direct current supply equipment and forces non-compliant devices out of the market entirely.

The retirement wave

A 2024 plan from the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration targets phasing out about 2.65 million low-power, low-efficiency and high-failure piles of 50kW and below by the end of 2026. Most sit in early communities and public sites.

Why efficiency, not just function

National charging volume has reached the hundred-billion-kilowatt-hour scale, so even a few percentage points of loss across millions of piles means enormous waste. Higher efficiency also pushes operators to treat maintenance response as core competence rather than an afterthought.

Yantai implication: For Dongshang New Energy and Dongdian Huichong, compliant routine inspection is the baseline and stability is the reputation. Property managers should ask whether equipment is compliant, who maintains it, and how fast faults are addressed before comparing price.