China's power crisis is making it hard for people to charge their electric cars, and automakers like Tesla Inc. and Nio Inc. have shut down some charging stations
Apps show charging stations are down in Chengdu, Sichuan, where a drought has cut hydropower supply and a heatwave has boosted electricity use, and Chongqing
Nio placed temporary alerts on its charging map page notifying users that some Chengdu battery-swapping stations are "off-line" due to "extreme grid overload under the ongoing high temperatures."
Tesla turned off or restricted more than a dozen super-charging outlets in the two cities as of Aug. 17, local media claimed, citing a driver's letter
Power outages in Sichuan have made things worse for factories that had to close, like Toyota Motor Corp. and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., which made batteries
Teld New Energy, which operates 300,000 charging pylons nationally, asks drivers to check if services are online before leaving out because local power authorities have shut down some facilities
The company is also giving preferential rates to customers who charge late at night or early in the morning to avoid peak demand.
Nio is asking users in Sichuan to share home chargers from Aug. 20 to Sept. 20, while some drivers are switching fully-charged batteries for almost-dead ones at swapping stations