New opportunities and changes for communication towers under the wave of new energy vehicles
New Energy Vehicles and Communication Towers: Seemingly Unrelated, Yet Tightly Connected
In our understanding, new energy vehicles seem to be completely unrelated to communication towers. A shuttle through the streets and alleys, carrying people's travel dreams and contributing to green travel; The other stands tall and silently transmits signals, supporting the modern communication network world. But in reality, with the rapid development of technology and the deep integration of industries, their connections are becoming increasingly close, jointly bringing profound changes to our lives. Next, let's delve into the intricate connections between them together.
The Booming Development of China's New Energy Vehicles
(1) Development Status and Achievements
In recent years, China's NEV industry has witnessed explosive growth, leading the global market. Data shows that in 2023, China's NEV production reached 9.587 million units, with sales of 9.495 million units. As of the end of June 2024, the nationwide NEV ownership surpassed 16.2 million units. From the perspective of market share, the proportion of NEV sales in total automobile sales continues to climb, now approaching 30%. Numerous domestic brands have shone brightly in the NEV sector. BYD has achieved outstanding results in both domestic and international markets with its multiple best-selling models. New force automakers such as NIO, XPeng, and Li Auto have also rapidly accumulated a large number of users with their unique technologies and innovative marketing strategies, driving industry transformation and development.
(2) Policy Support and Promotion
Policy is a significant driver of the rapid development of China's NEV industry. At the national level, the "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)" clearly states that by 2025, the average energy consumption of pure electric passenger vehicles should be reduced to 12.0 kWh per 100 kilometers, and the sales of new NEVs should reach about 20% of total new car sales. To encourage consumers to purchase NEVs, the country has also introduced a series of purchase subsidies and preferential tax policies. For instance, during the period from 2023 to 2027, the vehicle purchase tax exemption policy will be implemented for NEVs, with full exemption from 2023 to 2025 and half exemption from 2026 to 2027. Local governments have also actively responded by issuing supporting policies. For example, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, offers up to 25,000 yuan in cash subsidies and an additional 30,000 yuan in coupons to car buyers; Nanhai District, Foshan, provides subsidies ranging from 5,000 to 15,000 yuan per vehicle for residents with household registration or residence permits, which can be stacked with old car replacement or purchase incentives, reaching a maximum cumulative amount of 23,000 yuan per vehicle. These policies comprehensively safeguard the development of the NEV industry, covering production, sales, purchase subsidies, tax incentives, and industrial planning, forming a complete policy support system.
(3) Technological Breakthroughs and Innovations
Technological innovation is the core driving force for the development of NEVs. In battery technology, China has made considerable progress. The energy density of lithium iron phosphate batteries has been continuously improved, costs have decreased, and safety has been significantly enhanced. Research and development of new battery technologies such as solid-state batteries are also accelerating, promising a significant breakthrough in driving range. In the field of motor technology, permanent magnet synchronous motors are widely used in NEVs due to their high efficiency and energy-saving advantages. Additionally, the power density of motors has been continuously increased, with further reductions in size and weight. Intelligent driving technology is developing rapidly, with many automakers deploying autonomous driving assistance systems, such as Tesla's Autopilot and XPeng's XPILOT, making continuous breakthroughs in key technologies like sensors and algorithms. These systems have realized functions such as automatic parking, adaptive cruise control, and lane keeping, with some models even achieving highly autonomous driving in specific scenarios. These technological breakthroughs and innovations have not only improved the performance and user experience of NEVs but also laid a solid foundation for the sustainable development of the industry.
The Crucial Role and Importance of Communication Towers
(1) The Fundamental Support of Communication Towers in Communication Networks
Communication towers, as the cornerstone of communication networks, play an irreplaceable role in the coverage and transmission of communication signals. In cities, communication towers dotted around distribute signals to every corner, enabling people to make phone calls, browse the web, and watch videos smoothly anytime, anywhere. In remote mountainous areas, vast rural areas, and regions with inconvenient transportation, communication towers break geographical barriers, bringing information from the outside world to local people and allowing them to enjoy the convenience brought by communication technology. Without communication towers, signals would be like water without a source, making it difficult to achieve long-distance and large-scale effective coverage. The communication network would collapse, severely impeding people's communication and the functioning of society as a whole.
(2) The Close Relationship Between Communication Towers and 5G Network Construction
As the new generation of communication technology, 5G networks place higher demands on communication towers. The characteristics of 5G networks are high speed, low latency, and large connectivity. To realize these advantages, a larger number of communication towers are required, with a more dense and reasonable distribution and superior performance. In bustling urban commercial areas with high pedestrian traffic and significant data transmission demands, more 5G communication towers need to be constructed in appropriate locations to meet people's needs for high-speed networks. In remote areas, despite the relatively small population, the rational layout of communication towers is also necessary to achieve comprehensive 5G network coverage. In 5G network construction, communication towers act like the antennas of the 5G network, accurately delivering 5G signals to every required location, providing a solid guarantee for the widespread application of 5G technology in fields such as intelligent transportation, telemedicine, and industrial internet.
(3) The Crucial Value of Communication Towers in Emergency Communications
In the face of natural disasters and emergencies, communication towers shoulder the critical task of ensuring smooth emergency communications, becoming a lifeline for people to connect with the outside world. During the devastating rainstorm disaster in Zhengzhou, Henan, in July 2021, multiple communication base stations were severely damaged, resulting in a temporary interruption of communications. At this critical juncture, China Tower acted swiftly, investing significant human, material, and equipment resources to fully repair communication towers and ensure emergency communications. With emergency communication equipment mounted on them, communication towers became bridges for communication between disaster-stricken areas and the outside world, enabling rescue personnel to promptly understand disaster conditions, allocate rescue forces, and provide crucial support for the smooth conduct of rescue operations. Similarly, communication towers also play an important role in disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons, transmitting signals of hope during crises and making significant contributions to disaster relief and safeguarding people's lives and property.
Opportunities Brought by the Development of New Energy Vehicles to Communication Towers
(1) Cascading Utilization of Power Batteries to Reduce the Power Supply Cost of Communication Towers
When the capacity of power batteries in NEVs declines to a certain extent, unable to meet the vehicle's power demand, these retired batteries do not become useless but can be repurposed to create new value. Cascading utilization of power batteries involves inspecting, classifying, disassembling, and reassembling retired power batteries to enable their application in other fields with relatively low requirements for battery performance.
As crucial infrastructure for communication networks, communication towers require stable power supply to ensure their 24/7 operation. Traditionally, communication towers mostly use lead-acid batteries as backup power supplies. However, lead-acid batteries have numerous shortcomings, such as low energy density, short lifespan, and significant environmental pollution. In contrast, retired power batteries, though no longer usable in vehicles, have obvious advantages for powering communication towers. From a cost perspective, purchasing brand-new lithium batteries for powering communication towers is expensive, whereas retired power batteries are relatively inexpensive. China Tower has conducted active and successful explorations in this area. Since 2018, China Tower has comprehensively promoted the cascading utilization of power batteries across its 31 provincial branches, ceasing the procurement of lead-acid batteries and adopting exclusively cascaded power batteries. According to relevant data, after using cascaded batteries, China Tower has saved at least one-third of its investment compared to using new lithium batteries. As of now, China Tower has utilized 800 MWh of cascaded batteries, totaling 10,000 tons, installing 300,000 battery sets in 80,000 base stations. By using cascaded power batteries, China Tower has not only effectively reduced the power supply cost of communication towers but also reduced carbon emissions by over 80,000 tons, achieving significant economic and environmental benefits.
(2) Charging Infrastructure Construction, Expanding the Functions and Businesses of Communication Towers
With the continuous increase in NEV ownership, the demand for charging facilities is also growing. Communication towers, with their widespread distribution and advantageous locations, provide a good carrier for the construction of charging facilities. Combining charging piles with communication towers, realizing the "multi-pole integration" model, offers numerous feasibilities and advantages. On the one hand, communication towers are usually located in traffic arteries, bustling urban areas, and other places with significant demand for NEV charging. Constructing charging piles next to communication towers can better meet the charging needs of car owners. On the other hand, communication towers already possess infrastructure such as power supply and communication networks, providing convenient conditions for the construction and operation of charging piles and reducing construction costs.
In practical applications, the "multi-pole integration" model has already been promoted and applied in some regions. For example, in some cities, street lights, communication towers, and charging piles have been integrated along roadsides, not only reducing the occupation of urban space but also enhancing the overall city image. For communication tower operators, this undoubtedly opens up new business areas and increases revenue sources. By cooperating with charging pile operators, communication tower operators can earn revenue from site rental fees, power resale fees, etc., maximizing resource utilization. Simultaneously, they can utilize the communication network advantages of communication towers to provide intelligent management services for charging piles, such as remote monitoring of charging pile status, real-time adjustment of charging power, online payments, etc., enhancing the operational efficiency and user experience of charging piles.
(3) Intelligent Networking Demands, Promoting Technological Upgrades of Communication Towers
The intelligent networking development of NEVs places extremely high demands on communication networks. Intelligent networked vehicles need to conduct real-time, massive data interactions with the outside world, such as vehicle driving status, location information, and driving instructions, requiring communication networks to possess characteristics of low latency, high bandwidth, and high reliability. As key nodes in communication networks, communication towers play an important role in meeting the intelligent networking demands of NEVs.
To adapt to the development needs of intelligent networking of NEVs, communication towers require continuous technological upgrades. Supported by 5G technology, the communication capabilities of communication towers have been significantly enhanced, enabling high-speed data transmission and meeting the needs of intelligent networked vehicles for applications such as real-time video transmission and high-precision map downloads. Simultaneously, communication towers need to introduce edge computing technology, shifting some data processing tasks from the cloud to the vicinity of communication towers, reducing data transmission latency and improving response speed. For example, in intelligent driving scenarios, vehicles can transmit data collected by sensors to nearby communication towers in real-time for processing. The communication towers then rapidly send driving instructions to the vehicles based on the processing results, ensuring driving safety and smoothness. Additionally, communication towers need to strengthen network security protection technologies to safeguard the security of communication data from intelligent networked vehicles and prevent data leaks and cyberattacks. With the continuous development of intelligent networking technology for NEVs, the pace of technological upgrades for communication towers will also continue to accelerate, providing a more solid communication guarantee for the development of intelligent networked vehicles.
Challenges and Coping Strategies
(1) The Unification of Technical Standards and Regulations
In the process of collaborative development between NEVs and communication towers, the unification of technical standards and regulations is a crucial issue that needs to be resolved urgently. Currently, NEVs and communication towers belong to different industries with independent technical standard systems, leading to numerous incompatibilities during their integrated development.
Taking the integration of charging facilities and communication towers as an example, different NEV manufacturers have different technical standards for charging interfaces, charging protocols, and communication interfaces. Meanwhile, the construction standards and communication technology standards of communication towers also vary, making it difficult to integrate charging facilities and communication towers due to technical docking issues and equipment incompatibility. If these problems are not effectively resolved, they will not only increase construction and operation costs but also affect user experience and hinder the progress of collaborative development between NEVs and communication towers.
To solve the problem of unifying technical standards and regulations, governments and industry associations should play an active guiding role. Governments can issue relevant policies and regulations to encourage and support enterprises in the industry to jointly participate in the formulation of technical standards, strengthening communication and coordination between different industries. Industry associations can organize technical seminars, standard formulation activities, etc., to promote cooperation and exchange among enterprises and drive the unification of technical standards. For instance, the China Electricity Council and the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers can join forces to jointly formulate technical standards for the integration of NEV charging facilities and communication towers, clarifying requirements in charging interfaces, communication protocols, safety specifications, etc., providing strong support for the healthy development of the industry.
(2) Ensuring Safety and Reliability
During the cascading utilization of power batteries from NEVs and the construction of charging facilities on communication towers, safety and reliability are issues that must be highly prioritized.
Firstly, the performance and safety of retired power batteries exhibit certain uncertainties. Due to experiencing different working conditions and charge-discharge cycles during use, their internal structures and performance may change, potentially leading to safety hazards such as thermal runaway, short circuits, and fires during cascading utilization. Additionally, the battery management system (BMS) is crucial during cascading utilization. If the BMS cannot accurately monitor and control the battery status, it will also increase safety risks.
Secondly, regarding the construction of charging facilities on communication towers, safety hazards such as electrical safety, lightning protection, and electromagnetic compatibility of charging piles also exist. Charging piles are exposed to the outdoors for long periods, making them susceptible to adverse weather conditions and electrical interference, which may lead to equipment failures, electric leaks, and other issues, threatening users' personal safety and the normal operation of equipment.
To ensure safety and reliability, a series of effective countermeasures need to be taken. On the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen the inspection and evaluation of retired power batteries, establish a comprehensive battery health status monitoring system, and accurately judge the remaining lifespan and safety of batteries through advanced detection technologies and data analysis methods, selecting batteries suitable for cascading utilization. Simultaneously, it is crucial to research and apply advanced battery management systems to realize real-time monitoring and precise control of battery status, promptly detecting and addressing safety hazards. On the other hand, during the construction of charging facilities on communication towers, it is essential to strictly follow relevant safety standards and specifications, select reliable equipment and materials, enhance equipment protection and grounding measures, and improve equipment's anti-interference ability. Furthermore, it is necessary to establish and improve safety management systems, strengthen routine maintenance and inspections of equipment, conduct regular safety inspections and assessments, and ensure the safe and reliable operation of equipment.
(3) Exploring Business Models and Cooperation Mechanisms
Currently, the business models and cooperation mechanisms for the collaborative development of NEVs and communication towers are still in the exploratory stage, facing numerous problems and challenges.
From the perspective of business models, no mature and stable profit model has yet been formed. Although the cascading utilization of power batteries and the construction of charging facilities have brought new business opportunities to communication tower operators, their profitability is affected to some extent due to factors such as significant cost investments, long return periods, and underdeveloped market demand. For example, in the cascading utilization of power batteries, significant funds and manpower are required for battery recycling, inspection, and reassembly, while the market prices and demands for batteries after cascading utilization are uncertain, making it difficult to guarantee the economic benefits of enterprises.
In terms of cooperation mechanisms, cooperation among NEV manufacturers, communication tower operators, battery recycling enterprises, and charging pile operators is not close enough, lacking effective communication and coordination mechanisms. Disagreements exist among parties regarding benefit distribution, responsibility division, and technology sharing, making it difficult to form a synergistic development force. For instance, in the construction of charging facilities, NEV manufacturers hope that communication tower operators can provide more sites and resources, while communication tower operators worry about excessive construction and operation costs, uncertain returns, and potential conflicts during cooperation.
To overcome the difficulties of business models and cooperation mechanisms, it is necessary to establish mutually beneficial cooperation mechanisms and innovate business models. On the one hand, all parties should strengthen communication and cooperation, clarify rights and obligations through signing cooperation agreements and establishing strategic alliances, allocate benefits reasonably, and share risks collectively. For example, NEV manufacturers, communication tower operators, and battery recycling enterprises can join forces to jointly develop power battery cascading utilization projects, realizing resource sharing and complementary advantages. On the other hand, it is essential to actively explore innovative business models and expand profit channels. For instance, communication tower operators can cooperate with charging pile operators to develop value-added services such as advertising and data services, increasing revenue sources. Simultaneously, financial institutions can be introduced to provide financial support for projects through innovative financial products such as financial leasing and asset securitization, reducing the financial pressure on enterprises.
Future Prospects: Advancing Together to Create a Bright Future
The collaborative development of NEVs and communication towers paints a promising picture of the future. In the field of green energy, the booming development of NEVs is driving profound changes in the energy structure. Communication towers adopting cascaded power batteries from retired NEVs for their utilization not only reduce their own energy consumption and operating costs but also promote the recycling of resources, contributing to the realization of the "dual carbon" goals. Together, they play a melody of green development.
The future of intelligent transportation is even more exciting. The intelligent networking development of NEVs is closely connected to the technological upgrades of communication towers. Communication towers will provide more stable and high-speed communication services for intelligent networked vehicles, enabling efficient information interaction between vehicles, infrastructure, and pedestrians, making travel safer, more convenient, and intelligent. Imagine autonomous driving NEVs orderly navigating city roads under the signal coverage of communication towers, with traffic congestion becoming a thing of the past and travel efficiency significantly improved.
The development of the digital economy will also usher in new opportunities. The integrated innovation of NEVs and communication towers will spawn a series of new industries and business models, driving the development of related industrial chains and creating more employment opportunities and economic growth points. For example, the construction and operation of charging facilities based on communication towers will form a huge industrial ecosystem involving multiple fields such as equipment manufacturing, power supply, and operation management. Simultaneously, the massive data generated by NEVs and communication towers will provide abundant material for the development of big data analysis, artificial intelligence, and other technologies, driving the prosperous development of the digital economy.
The development of NEVs is of great significance to communication towers. Their collaborative development is the trend of the times and a powerful force driving social progress. Let us jointly look forward to a future where, with the collaborative advancement of NEVs and communication towers, our lives will become greener, smarter, and more efficient.
