A Tesla electric car is being charged at a Tesla Supercharger station inside an underground car park in Pudong district, Shanghai on Tuesday. The station - the world's largest Tesla Supercharger station - opens on Monday and can charge 50 vehicles at the same time, news site chinanews.com reported. Media reports over the weekend said the electric car maker has reached an agreement with Shanghai to build its own manufacturing facility in the city. Photo: IC

Tesla launched a special 2,800-kilometer supercharging line linking Southwest China's Yunnan Province and Tibet Autonomous Region, setting up 14 supercharger stations along the route, the US electric vehicle maker announced on social media platformWeibo on Tuesday. 

The supercharger line starts from Kunming,Yunnan Province and ends at Dingri in Tibet. Along the route, Tesla set supercharger stations at famed tourism hotspots including Lijiang, Shangri-La and Lhasa. Many of the stations are located in the vicinity of well-known hotels such as Songtsam Linka Bomi Hotel.

Some netizens commented that they'd like to take a driving holiday to theMeri Snow Mountain, a famed tourism attraction in Yunnan Province. 

Tesla's setting of supercharger network in Southwest China is the latest effort made by the company to penetrate into the mainland markets, in which it has already achieved great success but also encountered challenges. 

By early May, Tesla has set up and opened more than 760 supercharger stations across the mainland. The stations are located in more than 300 domestic cities, according to media reports. Tesla has also completed building its supercharger factory in Shanghai in February and has begun mass production of the facilities. 

Amid the seemingly sweeping success it has achieved in China's mainland market, Tesla has also met obstacles. Earlier, some Chinese consumers protested against the brand's brake quality problems and after-sales service issues, which generated heated discussions and debate about the brand on Chinese social media platforms.

Global Times