Development Challenges and Optimization Paths of New Energy Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in Suqian City from the Perspective of Socio-Technological Systems

Background: With the rapid growth of new energy vehicles (NEVs), charging infrastructure has become a critical component of low-carbon urban transportation and sustainable city development. However, in many medium-sized and lower-tier cities, the expansion of charging facilities has not kept pace with rising market demand. Suqian City, as an emerging city in northern Jiangsu Province, faces practical challenges in facility distribution, policy incentives, operational management, and user experience. Methods: This study adopts socio-technical systems theory as the analytical framework and conducts a qualitative case study of NEV charging infrastructure development in Suqian City. By examining policy documents, planning materials, statistical information, local public-service reports, and relevant academic literature, the study analyzes the interaction between the technological subsystem, including charging equipment, digital platforms, operation and maintenance technologies, and safety systems, and the social subsystem, including government agencies, operators, property-management units, users, regulations, and market mechanisms. Findings: The study finds that Suqian’s charging infrastructure development faces four major challenges: insufficiently refined subsidy policies, uneven spatial distribution of charging facilities, weak operation and maintenance effectiveness, and unsatisfactory user experience. These problems are not caused by isolated technical or administrative factors, but by the mismatch between technological supply, policy design, operator incentives, regulatory capacity, and user demand. Discussion: From a socio-technical perspective, the key to improving charging infrastructure lies in strengthening the coordination between technological upgrading and institutional governance. Suqian needs more forward-looking planning, performance-based subsidy mechanisms, intelligent monitoring platforms, diversified operation models, and more user-oriented regulatory systems. Conclusion: This study suggests that the high-quality development of NEV charging infrastructure requires integrated improvement strategies involving policy planning, government-enterprise collaboration, digital and physical infrastructure upgrading, and refined supervision. The findings provide practical implications for Suqian and offer reference value for other cities facing similar challenges in NEV infrastructure development.