In the province of Sichuan, the electricity shortage caused by a heat wave has shut down charging stations.
China is also being crushed by heat waves. Sichuan province experienced its worst heatwave in 60 years, with temperatures above 40 degrees. As in France, the other worrying aspect is a severe drought.
And this impacts the production of electricity. In Sichuan, a large part of the electricity comes from hydroelectric dams, which have therefore been idled. The local authorities have therefore rationed electricity, going so far as to close the largest factories, which consume a lot. Several car manufacturers have been affected, directly or indirectly. Thus the battery manufacturer CATL had to be shut down, which impacted the supply of batteries to Tesla.
But it’s not just manufacturers who have been affected by this power shortage. Electric vehicle users may also have been annoyed. In the cities of Chengdu and Chongqing, many charging stations were thus unavailable. According to local media relayed by “Automotive News Europe”, Tesla had cut off access to a dozen Superchargers in the two cities for several days. He left just two in operation… for one night. Some services have also set up preferential prices early in the morning or late in the evening to distribute the demand for electricity.
Nio, for its part, has put battery exchange stations on hold in Chengdu… inviting its customers to share their charging point at home.
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