Tesla Motors, makers of the Tesla S all-electric sports sedan, is attempting to make inroads into the Chinese market.
But one of Tesla's most prominent obstacles is one it faces no matter where its cars are sold -- availability, prevalence and distribution of charging stations for the $70,000 vehicles.
A Chinese businessman has proactively addressed this issue in order to extend the range of his own Tesla S.
Zong Yi needed to make his Tesla S capable of spanning the distance between Guangzhou (his home) and Beijing, about 1,300 miles. The range of the Tesla S on one charge is approximately 311 miles. The only Tesla company charging stations are in Beijing and Shanghai. The latter is about halfway between Beijing and Guangzhou, but still significantly beyond the range of the Tesla S.
Even getting his Tesla S home from the dealership in Beijing required Zong to bring a charger with him and depend on the good graces of hotels along the journey to allow access to their electricity.
Zong forged his own solution to the problem. He purchased 20 charging pillars from Tesla for about $800 each, and installed them in 16 cities on his route between Beijing and Guangzhou.
"I thought it would be cool if I could build China's first electric-car-charging road," said Zong.
Zong used social media to seek hotels and property owners along the route to donate space for a charging station that he would install. The space required only access to a heavy-duty electrical outlet. Completed stations would appear on his online map, "China Electric Road." Zong left it up to each station landlord whether or not to charge a fee for the service.
One ongoing issue is that Zong installed older-model slow chargers, not the rapid chargers that both Tesla and the Chinese government prefer. As a result, it can take up to eight hours for a Tesla S to juice up, versus just one hour for the newer chargers. But Zong sees a business opportunity for hotels that host the charging stations.
"If we install at hotels, we can handle everything on our own and avoid dealing with property management, power companies and the government. Seven hours of charging costs the property owner money in electricity, but if the driver has a meal or spends the night at the hotel, this can become a profit model," said Zong.
Tesla is aware of Zong's entrepreneurial solution and supports his effort.
The Chinese government wants to promote hybrid and electric vehicle use to reduce oil dependence and improve air quality, a major problem in Chinese urban centers.
