(Yicai Global) Oct. 9 -- More residents of China's east-central Hubei province chose to travel by electric vehicles during this year's National Day holiday.

The total charging volume of charging stations in the province reached 148,500 kilowatt hours for an annual increase of seven times.

From Oct. 1 to Oct. 7, charging piles in Hubei provided 7,046 times of charging services for electric vehicles. The total charging volume reached 148,500 kilowatt hours for an annual increase of seven times, per data from the Hubei branch of State Grid Corp. of China, as the the official Xinhua News Agency reported Oct. 8.

The growth in the number of those traveling by electric vehicles is due to the accelerated construction of charging stations. Since the beginning of this year, many charging posts have been built and put into use along national and provincial roads across the province, and this has greatly facilitated trips by electric vehicles.

The provincial government has also promoted electric vehicle use. It has introduced a subsidy policy for purchase of electrical cars and a low-price policy for charging services, both of which have spurred electric vehicle sales.

Hubei has also built 69 fast charging stations along key high-speed passages to cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. The province will have an estimated 410 charging stations and about 190,000 charging piles by 2020.