Faced
with the lack of electric-car charging stations in China after
purchasing a new Tesla Model S, a Chinese businessman has built a
network of Tesla Motors charging stations from Beijing to Guangzhou.
When
Zong, 44, spent 730,000 yuan (about $117,600) to create what he called
the first "electric vehicle charging road," according to Chinese news
site Caixin.
While Tesla Motors has
charging stations throughout the United States and Europe, there are
none in China outside of Beijing and Shanghai. Zong's charging road,
which includes 20 charging stations in 16 cities across the
5,750-kilometer (about 3,570-mile) stretch between the two cities,
attempts to fix that problem.
The
inspiration for Zong's idea resulted from a simple problem he faced
after picking up his Model S in Beijing. A Model S can travel a total of
500 kilometers (311 miles) on one charge, which would make the journey
from Beijing to Guangzhou impossible without charging stations along the
way.
The easiest solution would've
be for Zong to bring a charger with him, and plug it in at every hotel
at which he stayed on his route. But instead of this temporary solution,
Zong contacted the Tesla Motors executive in charge of Chinese
operations, Wu Bixuan, to buy 20 charging stations, according to Caixin.
Using
Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter, as well as popular messaging
app WeChat, Zong found property owners willing to forego one parking
space in their lot to house a donated Tesla charging station.
Zong's
road isn't perfect, however. The 20 charging stations he purchased and
donated are slow chargers, which take at least eight hours for a full
charge. Tesla's Superchargers, on the other hand, can do the same job
within an hour.
According to Zong,
seven hours of charging would cost each property owner around 30 yuan
(about $5) in electricity. He let the owners determine whether they
would charge a fee, or offer the service for free, according to Caixin.
Zong noted that if, for instance, a hotel decided to host a charging
station, it could potentially increase business, as drivers would have
to stay overnight while their electric car finished charging.
Posted by : Gizmeon
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