X

Impatient Chinese Tesla owner decides to build his own charging stations

A businessman has taken it upon himself to set up Tesla chargers in 16 different Chinese cities between Beijing and his home in Guangzhou, due to a lack of charging stations.

Francis Bea CNET contributor
Francis Bea is a technology writer who has written about social media, mobile startups, and the latest tech trends in China for Digital Trends and TheNextWeb. When Francis isn't writing about tech, you'll find him musing about the mobile ad industry by day for AppFlood, a mobile advertising network, and tinkering with startup ideas by night.
Francis Bea
2 min read
Wayne Cunningham/CNET

2014 Tesla Model S
The 2014 Tesla Model S. Wayne Cunningham/CNET

Tesla owners in China would argue that the electric car manufacturer has been slow in rolling out its charging stations across the country. While recently the company unveiled chargers in Beijing and Shanghai with several dozen more expected, one owner is taking it into his own hands to build Tesla chargers.

A Chinese man by the name of When Zong is exhibiting his dedication to his Tesla car by forking out double the six-figure price tag of the car -- RMB730,000 ($117,600, £68,900, AU$125,500) -- to set up Tesla charging stations sprinkled between Beijing and his home city of Guangzhou, reports Chinese investigative news site Caixin.

The route covers more than 5,750 kilometers (3,572 miles) across 16 different cities in China. Along this stretch of roadway, Zong is said to be installing 20 charging stations spread between 100 kilometers (62 miles) and 400 kilometers (248 miles) apart.

According to the reports, Tesla is aware of, and even participating in, selling these 20 chargers to the businessman -- Zong has been in touch with Wu Bixuan, Tesla's head of Chinese operations.

It isn't clear where the electric charging stations are to be set up exactly. However Zong's statements suggest that he's looking at hotels.

"If we install at hotels, we can handle everything on our own and avoid dealing with property management, power companies and the government," Zong said.

Charging stations in China without government approval currently must be set up on private property.

While the charging stations are being donated by the businessman, property owners that elect to set up the charging station can elect to require car owners to pay for each charge. Since these charging stations aren't superchargers that can be charged in under one hour, a single charge may take seven hours at a cost of 30 yuan ($4.80, £2.80, AU$5.15).

We've reached out to Tesla and will update with any further comment.