Tesla Inc is beefing up its vehicle charging infrastructure in Hong Kong to help lure back customers after an end to the territory’s tax breaks for electric vehicles caused sales to plunge.
The two-level, 50-stall destination charging facility in Kowloon Bay can provide full charge to a car battery in a few hours, a company spokeswoman said in Hong Kong.
It takes as long as 10 hours at Tesla’s destination charging sites to top up in the batteries, whereas it takes about 90 minutes at supercharger stations, with the time depending on the condition of the battery.
Destination charging facilities are ideal for people working, living or shopping in the area, the spokeswoman said.
Superchargers, an option while on the road, can charge 50 percent of the battery in about 20 minutes, she added.
Since the Hong Kong government scrapped tax incentives for private-use electric vehicles in April last year, Tesla managed to sell just 40 cars through February, compared with 2,939 sold in March last year, the South China Morning Post reported.
“As part of Tesla’s commitment to Hong Kong, we continue to expand charging footprint all over Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territories,” the automaker said in an e-mail yesterday, adding the recently opened facility would be the biggest destination charging location in the Asia-Pacific region.
Tesla already has 92 superchargers at 21 supercharger facilities in Hong Kong. In mainland China, it has more than 1,300 superchargers and 2,000 destination charging facilities in more than 170 cities.
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