Tesla updates Model S/X charge port to support China’s charging standard

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Tesla has made good on its pledge to support domestic charging standards in China, which arguably has been a barrier to sales for the California electric car maker in the worldÂ’s largest auto market. Tesla announced Monday that a modified version of the Model S and Model X with a new charge port design will be sold in China that supports the countryÂ’s GB/T DC fast charging standard without the use of an adapter.

The China-only version of the Model S and Model X features a new charge port door that resembles a gas tank door and replaces Tesla’s ubiquitous automated charge port door that’s discreetly tucked away into the vehicle’s rear taillight housing. Tesla will be providing free charging adapters to customers that own the earlier versions of the Model S and Model X without the newly integrated GB/T charge port.

Photo credit: cnBeta

The new charge port design will provide Tesla customers in China with charging options beyond the company’s proprietary Supercharger network and give new buyers access to the country’s expansive electric vehicle charging network. China’s Sate Council has committed to building more than 12,000 new charging stations by 2020 to support the burgeoning market for ‘new energy vehicles’. Tesla has also recently announced that it will install 1,000 Superchargers in China by the end of 2017. A Tesla spokesperson recently confirmed with Teslarati that a Supercharger station was under construction in Shanghai which will likely become the world’s largest Supercharger station. We provided a first glance of what appears to be 40 to 60 Supercharger stalls being installed in a parking complex at Shanghai’s Commercial Centre.

China sold 507,000 new energy vehicles in 2016 representing a more than 50 percent increase from the year prior. China’s state media has recently reported that the country was working on plans to begin the phase-out of gasoline and diesel vehicles, giving Tesla a further edge in cutting out a slice of the world’s largest EV market.

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