Tesla Centers Are Taking Over China

November 26th, 2019 by Johnna Crider

Tesla Centers seem to be taking over China, or will be soon enough. Tesla is unstoppable in China and is converting some of its 48 showrooms into “one-stop shops” that will be known as “Tesla Centers.” These Tesla Centers will serve as warehouses for deliveries, support locations for maintenance, as well as service centers and charging stations.

In fact, CleanTechnica has already written about these Tesla Experience Centers, which also provide a learning place for citizens in China to learn about Tesla.

Tesla plans to increase its number of service centers in China from 29 to 63, and the number of its fast-charging stations from 39 to 362 units. It’s also increased the charging capacity of the Model 3 with its latest software update.

Right now, Tesla operates the majority of its service centers in China’s coastal areas and major provincial capitals, but more are planned in Urumqi, Kumming, and Harbin. Wang Hao of Tesla China told Reuters, “The expansion of the service network is very important to boost customer confidence,” and also mentioned that it would build more charging stations in China at a faster pace, which makes sense given how fast Tesla has been moving in China.

In fact, the sooner Tesla starts building up its service centers and charging stations, the better, because Tesla is planning to make 3,000 vehicles a week soon in China, so it stands to reason that Tesla needs to have a more robust charging infrastructure set up for this new wave of vehicle sales.

Tesla has already started producing its Made-In-China Model 3 vehicles, which, as you can gather from the photos above, include Tesla badges written in Chinese characters. The cars also have two plug-in ports, whereas the ones made in the US have only one. Perhaps this is to comply with government standards.

According to The Global Times, Tesla will try to produce 17,400 Made-In-China Model 3 cars before 2019 is over. It may seem ambitious and even impossible for some who doubt Tesla, but remember the Gigafactory was built well ahead of schedule. This gives Tesla more time to make more vehicles.

Caixin Global reported a few days ago that not only did the Chinese Model 3s go on sale, but also the car “will debut at the 17th Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition,” which kicked off Friday. Buyers were able to place an order by visiting Tesla’s Chinese website or visiting one of its showrooms. The Made-In-China Model 3s have 460 kilometers of range on a single charge. Also, Caixin Global reports that Tesla has deployed some 2,000 Superchargers across China.

I think it’s safe to say that Tesla is already doing well in China. According to a tweet from Jay in Shanghai, Gigafactory 3 is operating 24/7. Although, we don’t know for sure what the shifts are or how many hours the employees work per shift. Of course, speculation abounds.

Tesla is ready for China and there is no question that China is ready for Tesla. However, having Tesla Centers to help with deliveries and service will definitely help speed things up and make customers happier, I think. Seeing Tesla China grow so rapidly from its baby steps last year into having a fully functioning factory just shows us that Tesla is, despite what critics believe (or claim to believe), doing well.

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