Supercharging station powers green mobility for China's new wheels

A foreign visitor (L) learns about a Chinese electric vehicle (EV) charging station during the fourth China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo at Changsha International Convention and Exhibition Center in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, June 13, 2025. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

An EV charging station in south China's tech hub of Shenzhen is fueling a quiet transformation to green mobility amid the low hum of energy flow.

As a steady stream of electric vehicles entered bays at the Lotus Hill supercharging station in Shenzhen's Futian District, a young man surnamed Sun gestured toward his rapidly charging sedan at a 600kW hypercharger.

"An hour elsewhere, just 20 minutes here," he said. "This is Shenzhen speed."

Sun's experience is soon expected to be shared by millions of EV owners across China, where the number of new energy vehicles (NEVs) had reached 31.4 million by the end of 2024 -- accounting for more than half of the world's total, as shown by official data.

Such infrastructure development is critical for the world's largest EV market, where stations like Lotus Hill are engineering the future of mobility.

Since opening six months ago, this technological beacon in Shenzhen has become the preferred pitstop for discerning EV drivers, attracting over 600 vehicles daily.

Lotus Hill's 27 charging points, including four record-setting 600kW hyperchargers, run near capacity.

"One kilometer per second," explained a technician monitoring the control system. This means that an average family car can potentially secure over 80 percent of it's maximum battery life within 10 minutes of charging.

For drivers like Sun, who visits Lotus Hill twice weekly, the difference is transformative. "No queues, even at rush hour. It rewrites your schedule," said Sun.

However, this innovation extends deeper.

The station's core innovation, China's first integration of "solar storage, hypercharging, vehicle-grid interaction and OpenHarmony for Power operating system (OS)," makes it a linchpin in supporting the nation's EV ambitions.

Lotus Hill's 152 kW solar canopy and 200 kWh battery storage bank combine to enable true "green electrons for green wheels," but its transformative potential truly lies in its vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capabilities.

Through V2G technology, equipped across 22 specialized charging piles offering 36 outlets, EVs transform into mobile power units.

A compelling demonstration occurred in March 2025 during China's largest V2G event, when the Lotus Hill station discharged 13,000 kWh into the grid daily -- equivalent to powering 1,600 households for a whole day.

Drivers, meanwhile, aren't just fueling the future. They are also profiting, earning 4 yuan (about 0.56 U.S. dollar) per kWh discharged, said Zhang Jiasen, a senior manager at the power supply bureau of Futian District under the Shenzhen branch of China Southern Power Grid.

Contrasted with off-peak charging costs of 0.4 yuan per kWh, the benefit is clear -- a net gain of 3.6 yuan per kWh.

Managing such complex interoperability, which involves integrating diverse vehicles and chargers, requires robust technical architecture. Notably, five advanced piles at Lotus Hill utilize OpenHarmony for Power, which is a domestically-developed industrial-grade operating system.

This system, on the one hand, secures digital assets by enhancing the information security of charging and swapping equipment, while on the other hand allowing for more flexible and efficient networking of devices, thereby improving the adaptability of charging and swapping equipment.

Zhang framed it as linguistic harmony.

"Charging technology for new energy vehicles is evolving rapidly. To ensure that the power grid 'speaks the same language' as various types of vehicles and charging piles, it is essential to achieve plug-and-play capabilities and data interoperability," he said. "OpenHarmony for Power made it possible."

"The supercharging station crystallizes our efforts in supporting Shenzhen's ambitious transformation into a global digital energy pioneer," Zhang added.