As the Chinese New Year fell between Feb 10 and 17 this year with record-high nationwide personnel flow, the State Grid Corp of China — the world's largest utility — offered its hand to help boost drivers' mobility.

The Ministry of Transport announced that, for the larger Spring Festival travel period, which started on Jan 26 and ends on March 5 for a total of 40 days, some 2.29 billion trips are expected to be made by people travelling cross different regions. Among them, trips on highways will be some 2.17 billion in number.

To face the record-high trips on highways, the State Grid — which shoulders the dual task of safeguarding the country's energy security as well as its economic lifeline as a mighty power supplier — decided to aid drivers of new energy vehicles by expanding green charging services.

In East China's Jiangsu province, the Jiangsu Power Supply Co of the State Grid made an exemplary service in the prefecture-level city of Xuzhou by upgrading its charging stations there, aiming to create a convenient, safe and green travel environment.

Wei Qiangqiang, a staff member from the Xuzhou Power Supply Co of the State Grid, noted that Xuzhou, situated in the middle of the country's northern and southern regions, is a national comprehensive transport hub with highways extending in all directions.

To alleviate the pressure of power charging for NEVs, the Xuzhou Power Supply Co launched an expansion of charging piles in advance in the local service areas along the Beijing-Shanghai Expressway and the Lianyungang-Horgos Expressway, trying to better serve NEV owners during the holiday period, he said.

Wei's colleague Fan Zixiao explained: "For example, in the Xinyi service area of the Beijing-Shanghai Expressway, there used to be four charging piles and four charging guns on one side of one charging point, but now there are six charging piles and eight charging guns on one side after the renovation — equivalent to doubling the charging capacity."

"Generally speaking, an NEV can be charged to 80 percent of its power capacity in half an hour," he added.

At the Xinyi service area on Feb 7, the Jiangsu Power Supply Co of the State Grid set up a consultation booth in the NEV charging area to explain the charging skills to drivers, winning unanimous praise.

"You can use the itinerary planning function on our e-charging mobile app to insert your NEV information and destination in advance, in a bid to enjoy an exclusive charging plan with just one click, which means you no longer need to worry about charging issues on your way to your hometown," one power worker explained to drivers visiting the booth.

Moreover, the Xuzhou Power Supply Co also sent staff members to increase their equipment operation and maintenance patrols, open underground passages to let NEV owners drive their cars to the opposite side when the queuing time on one side of the service area is long, as well as deploy mobile energy-storage charging vehicles to serve as mobile charging piles, so as to meet the drivers' timely needs, Wei said.

liuzizheng@chinadaily.com.cn