China EV Charging Module Market for Electric Car DC Charger Station

The significant increase in sales volume of charging modules has led to a rapid decline in unit price. According to statistics, the price of charging modules dropped from approximately 0.8 yuan/watt in 2015 to around 0.13 yuan/watt by the end of 2019, experiencing a steep decline initially.

Subsequently, due to the impact of three years of epidemics and chip shortages, the price curve remained stable with slight decreases and occasional rebounds during certain periods.

As we enter 2023, with a new round of efforts in charging infrastructure construction, there will be further growth in production and sales volume of charging modules while price competition continues to be an important manifestation and key factor in product competition.

It is precisely because of fierce price competition that some companies unable to keep up with technology and services are forced to be eliminated or transformed, resulting in an actual elimination rate exceeding 75%.

Market Conditions

After almost ten years of extensive market application testing, the technology for charging modules has significantly matured. Among mainstream products available on the market, there exist variations in technical levels across different companies. The crucial aspect is how to enhance product reliability and maximize charging efficiency as superior quality chargers have already emerged as a prevailing trend within this sector’s advancement.

Nevertheless, along with increased maturity within the industry chain comes mounting cost pressures on charging equipment. As unit profit margins decline, scale effects will assume greater importance for manufacturers of charging modules while production capacity is bound to consolidate further. Enterprises occupying leading positions regarding industry supply volume will exert stronger influence over overall industry development.

Three Types of Modules

Currently, the development direction of charging module technology can be broadly divided into three categories based on the cooling method: one is the direct ventilation type module; another is the module with independent air duct and potting isolation; and the third is the fully liquid-cooled heat dissipation charging module.

Forced Air Cooling

The application of economic principles has made air-cooled modules the most widely used product type. To address issues such as high failure rates and relatively poor heat dissipation in harsh environments, module companies have developed independent airflow and isolated airflow products. By optimizing the design of the airflow system, they protect key components from dust contamination and corrosion, significantly reducing failure rates while improving reliability and lifespan.

These products bridge the gap between air cooling and liquid cooling, offering excellent performance at a moderate price point with diverse applications and significant market potential.

Liquid Cooling

Liquid-cooled charging modules are widely regarded as the optimal choice for the development of charging module technology. Huawei announced at the end of 2023 that it will deploy 100,000 fully liquid-cooled charging stations in 2024. Even before 2020, Envision AESC had already begun commercializing fully liquid-cooled ultra-fast charging systems in Europe, making liquid-cooling technology a focal point in the industry.

Currently, there still exist certain technological barriers to fully mastering the integration capabilities of both liquid-cooled modules and liquid-cooled charging systems, with only a few companies able to achieve this feat. Domestically, Envision AESC and Huawei serve as representatives.

Type of Electric Current

The existing charging modules include ACDC charging module, DCDC charging module, and bidirectional V2G charging module, according to the type of current.

ACDC is used for unidirectional charging piles, which are the most widely used and numerous types of charging modules.

DCDC is suitable for converting solar power generation into battery storage or for charge and discharge between batteries and vehicles, which is applied in solar energy storage projects or energy storage projects.

V2G charging modules are designed to meet the needs of future vehicle-grid interaction functions as well as bidirectional charge and discharge requirements at energy stations.