Tesla to link Beijing and Shanghai with charging stations

Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-01-16

A Tesla electric car equipped with solar panels at the Consumer Electronics
Show in Las Vegas, Jan. 8. (Photo/Xinhua)

US automaker Tesla Motors said on Thursday it plans to expand service and sales centers in China, including building supercharge stations for electric cars along highways linking Beijing and Shanghai.

"We'll do multiples in some of the key markets. Certainly service centers, but also sales points as appropriate," said Diarmuid O'Connell, Tesla's vice president for corporate & business development.

Tesla plans to expand its service and sales centers in China beyond Beijing and its suburbs, O'Connell told Xinhua.

"Shanghai is the obvious second point and then we've got a relatively aggressive geographic expansion plan," O'Connell said.

Meanwhile, O'Connell told a news conference at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) that the company has a plan to link Beijing to Shanghai with supercharger stations for electric cars, but did not specify the schedule.

Jerome Guillen, Tesla's vice president of worldwide sales and service, said that Tesla will start delivering vehicles in China at the end of this quarter.

The US automaker recently launched its Chinese website and allows Chinese consumers to book Tesla's electric sedans through the site.

The company reportedly opened its first Chinese showroom in Beijing in November 2013.