Palo Alto, California-based U.S. electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc. has signed an agreement with China’s second-largest telecommunications company China United Network Communications Group Co., Ltd. to build 400 charging stations by the end of this year in 120 Chinese cities at China Unicom branch offices, according to an official announcement.
This is the latest effort by Tesla to solve the problem of shortages of charging infrastructure in the country.
Tesla, which delivered its first electric car in China in April, has also face other problems including being sued for not delivering ordered vehicles as promised and angry customers smashing the vehicle to show contempt.
According to the plans signed between Tesla and China Unicom, the two will also build 20 Tesla supercharging stations, where 30 minutes of charging will add 170 miles of EPA rated range. Tesla owners will be able to charge their cars for free at these stations.
Tesla will provide the equipment for the charging stations. China Unicom will provide the land and space.
China Unicom is the 3G service provider to Tesla’s Model S vehicles in China.
So far, Tesla has completed the construction of 11 superchargers in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Nanjing. It currently has more than 200 charging stations in 32 cities in China.
The company also plans to enter the Chengdu market next, after having delivered vehicles in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou.
