The first public electric vehicle charging station was installed in Liangjiang New Area of Chongqing on July 13, forwarding the government's initiative to encourage more clean energy vehicles on intercity roads.

Costing 3 million yuan ($442,400), the station based at the Fuxing service area, allows for eight vehicles to be charged at once, and joins seven other charging stations across the nine major districts of Chongqing.

Liangjiang opens its first intercity charging station for electric vehicles at the Fuxing service area in Chongqing. [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn]

Yi Lizheng, an official of the State Grid Chongqing Electric Power Company, said the charging station would charge just 1 yuan per kWh with a payment cap of 30 yuan–approximately one third the cost to fill up a petrol tank.

For most vehicles, a full charge will only take 30 minutes with the use of a tap-and-go card.

Chongqing plans to build 90 expressway charging stations by 2020, with an average distance between each of 50 kilometers.

The tap-and-go system makes use of RFID technology. [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn]