The charging pile industry is currently facing a serious profitability crisis. More than 80% of operators are in losses, and the industry as a whole is trapped in the dilemma of low prices. A survey shows that after deducting rigid expenses such as equipment depreciation, site rent, and manpower operation and maintenance, leading enterprise charging stations have a net profit of only 4 cents per kilowatt hour. The rapid expansion of the industry has exacerbated profitability problems.
As of the end of February 2026, the total number of charging facilities nationwide exceeded 21.01 million, a year-on-year increase of 47.8%, including 4.834 million public piles and 16.176 million private piles. The vehicle-to-pile ratio is close to 1:1.
There are too many charging piles and few vehicles in some areas. The utilization rate of public charging piles continues to decline, and the utilization rate of old low-power piles is less than 10%.
The annual income of a small operator in Qingdao, Shandong Province dropped from 500,000 yuan in 2020 to 80,000 yuan in 2023, with annual profits of only about 60,000 yuan.
The cross-border layout of car companies and battery companies squeezes the living space of third-party operators.
BYD, Weilai, CATL and other companies use charging and swapping as ancillary services for vehicle sales. They do not aim at profit from charging and use large-scale layout to divert core passenger flow.
As of April 2026, NIO has invested more than 20 billion yuan in the field of charging and swapping, with 8,751 charging and swapping stations, further reducing the market share of third-party operators.
Excessive technology iteration increases operator investment risks.
TAGPH 34The update cycle of charging piles is much shorter than that of traditional infrastructure. The mainstream 60-120kW air-cooled piles before 2020 have been eliminated, and the 180-240kW ones that will become popular in 2023 Fast charging piles are being upgraded to more than 360kW, 250kW + supercharging will become standard in 2026, and 600kW liquid cooling technology will be gradually promoted.
In the early stage, low-power piles became inefficient assets without recovering their costs, increasing the pressure on operators to lose money.
The price war continues to compress profit margins.
Charging service fees are the main source of income for operators. Because users are price-sensitive and have low brand loyalty, operators dare not increase prices easily and can only rely on low prices to attract customers.
At the same time, equipment mass production prices are reduced, charging subsidies are gradually withdrawn, and rental and operation and maintenance costs are rising. Long-term low-price operations in the industry are unsustainable, and most operators are deep in losses.
