Illustration: Liu Xidan/GT

　　China"s annual Spring Festival travel rush has long served as a stress test for the country"s transport system. This year, private car travel is again expected to account for the majority of the journeys. According to the Ministry of Transport"s preliminary analysis and assessment, trips made by new-energy vehicles (NEVs) are projected to reach a record 380 million during the period.

　　Against this backdrop, questions about the reliability of NEVs for long-distance holiday travel have attracted increasing public attention.

　　The holiday period also provides insight into how China"s NEV industry fares under growing demand. Travel is concentrated into a relatively short and intense window, placing simultaneous pressure on the vehicles as well as the nation"s charging network. Daily driving range, the availability of charging points along expressways, and the likelihood of queues at busy stations become especially relevant.

　　In this context, the focus shifts to how NEVs perform under continuous, large-scale market adoption.

　　The estimate of 380 million NEV trips provides a clear measure of consumer confidence. It indicates trust not only in the vehicles themselves but also in the supporting infrastructure - quintessentially charging points, the key for long-distance travel. Few drivers would embark on extended holiday journeys if access to charging was uncertain or frequently delayed. The anticipated scale of use suggests that NEVs are increasingly regarded as a practical choice for a wide range of journeys, even during the most demanding travel period of a year.

　　One way to account for this consumer confidence is to look at the development of China"s NEV infrastructure across three dimensions, beginning with scale.