A Tesla store in Beijing Photo: IC

Tesla is looking to set up more than 4,000 superchargers in China in 2020, doubling the total number of superchargers it has built in the past five years, as the US electric maker looks to break one of the biggest bottlenecks in the development of new-energy vehicles (NEV) that has led to many consumers hesitating about purchasing NEVs. 

The US NEV maker also intends to open the Chinese portion of the Shanghai-London charging line, making cross-border travel for electric vehicles possible, Tesla revealed on Thursday during a press conference it held in its Shanghai office. 

Being the only electric car maker that has built a charging network in China, Tesla has set up more than 2,500 superchargers in China in more than 150 cities.

At a time when the car industry has been severely impacted by the coronavirus, Tesla's aggressive moves in China, not only in supercharging but its reported push for an expansion plan at the Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai, show the company's high expectations for the Chinese market, experts said. 

"Tesla's move shows that the company places great hope in the Chinese market, as apparently the company is not only building the charging stations for its existing customers, but also for future potential customers," Wu Shuocheng, an independent car analyst, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

It also shows Tesla's efforts to break one of the biggest bottlenecks that has hindered the popularity of NEVs in China - people's worries about whether NEV charging is inconvenient and time-consuming. 

"So far, the number of NEV chargers in China, including the ones built by Tesla and the State Grid, are still far from enough to dispel people's worries about charging inconvenience, but the anxiety has and will gradually ease with the construction of China's NEV supporting facilities," Wu said. 

In April, 72,000 NEVs were sold in China, up by 9.7 percent compared with March but down 26.5 percent on a yearly basis, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. 


Newspaper headline: Tesla to build over 4,000 superchargers in China in 2020 despite coronavirus impact