(Yicai Global) March 16 -- There is room for improvement at China's public charging stations for new energy vehicles as the prices are on the high side and the meter readings are not accurate enough, according to a recent survey.

The cost to charge electric cars in the public network should come down, charging standards need to be unified and the accuracy of meter readings should be improved, according to the China Consumer Association, which polled 13,425 car owners nationwide.

Only 72.6 percent of those polled were satisfied with the price and just 60 percent thought the meter readings were accurate, the survey said. But, overall, the satisfaction with the safety and convenience of payment at public charging stations was high at more than 80 percent.

Consumers said they prefer to pay around CNY30 (USD4.30) per charge and to spend one hour charging. People want more fast-charging piles to be installed and for the location of the stations to be more convenient.

Other grievances were that there are not enough public charging stations, that there are only a few charging piles at each station and that they are difficult to find. Although generally, consumers agree that the distance between charging piles is not far and charging times are not long.

In general, those who used private charging piles were more satisfied with the price, meter accuracy and standard of service.

Most NEV owners charge their cars between four and six times a month, usually in the afternoon, and it normally takes within four hours to charge, the report said. Chinese brands are popular with consumers and the service life of electric cars is less than three years.

Nearly 60 percent of respondents said that the charging piles are often damaged or not working, but more than 78 percent said that response times are fast and repairs are carried out quickly.

Editor: Kim Taylor