Tesla's "free service" of giving away charging stations when buying a car slaps someone in the face

It seems that Tesla has already sensed the policy direction. On the fourth day after the Beijing Development and Reform Commission issued a document stating that "charging service fees will be charged from June 1st", Tesla launched a free service plan - "Free pre-survey service for home charging", which provides Tesla users with free survey and installation of home charging piles. Previously, Tesla owners had to pay at least 6,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan for this service.

When "charging for cutlery" was about to become an unwritten rule in the industry, Tesla chose to serve its customers a cup of "free Starbucks".

What's wrong with being hypocritical?

In the eyes of many peers, Tesla's "free coffee" is somewhat hypocritical, because those who can afford Tesla are either rich or noble, and don't care about buying an extra home charging station. Maybe Tesla also thought so when it first entered China, but when they found that there were a large number of losers hidden in the few orders, they suddenly saw the light.

Thus, the story of "selling shoes in Africa" ​​began: Tesla first launched the installment payment business through China Merchants Bank credit card; then it launched the half-price value-preserving repurchase business synchronized with the world; then, free home charging stations came... As a result, gradually there were more losers and grassroots among Tesla owners.

Tesla released data on April 3rd, saying that its global sales in the first quarter of 2015 were 10,030 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 55%. Although the global performance report did not disclose sales data for the Chinese market separately, a Tesla insider revealed that "Tesla's sales in China have stopped falling and have begun to improve.

Sales in the Chinese market in March were about 370 vehicles, an increase of about 140% compared to February. Thanks to the improvement in sales expectations and the release of new energy storage products, Tesla's stock price has risen by nearly 25% since the end of March. The current stock price is above $230 per share, with a market value of nearly $29 billion.

Strike while the iron is hot. "Difficulty in charging" has become the biggest obstacle for consumers to buy electric vehicles. Imperfect public facilities and incompatible charging interfaces have resulted in many public charging piles being useless. Although home charging piles are convenient, the installation rate of home charging piles is extremely low due to property factors and cumbersome registration procedures.

Tesla saw this pain point and took the lead in launching the "Free Pre-Survey Service for Home Charging". "Not all of our users live in villas. Many of them live in high-rise buildings and don't even have fixed parking spaces. Before installing charging piles, in addition to technical issues, we also have to help customers coordinate many relationships." A staff member of Tesla China's Public Policy and Charging Infrastructure Department revealed.

A seemingly simple business has become the most trivial and arduous work within Tesla China. If this can be seen as hypocritical, then Tesla is really hypocritical this time. Since 2015, Tesla car owners can get free services including home charging equipment, 2 years of free maintenance, and free on-site inspection and repair services within 48 hours after reporting a problem after officially purchasing a car.

According to reports, Tesla's service will cover an area with a radius of 350 kilometers with the 21 major cities in the country, including more than 80% of the major cities in the country.

Tesla will first launch free pre-survey services in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other cities, and will continue to expand the geographical scope of pre-survey services. So far, Tesla has built hundreds of super charging stations and more than a thousand destination charging piles as a charging supplement for long-distance travel, thus building the world's second largest public charging station network for Tesla owners in China.

Waiting for the new national standard

While building two parallel charging lines, Tesla also plans to upgrade its products in the future to comply with the national charging standards that will be launched in the Chinese market in the second half of next year.

"China is currently revising five important national standards on charging. Tesla has been actively participating in the revision of national standards and fully supporting the improvement and perfection of China's charging standards in terms of safety and compatibility, striving to help China's standards become the world's most advanced charging standards.

When the improved Chinese charging standard is officially released in the future, Tesla will fully support the new national standard and modify the newly produced vehicles to comply with the new national standard. " said Gao Xiang, Director of Public Policy and Charging Infrastructure of Tesla China.

"At the same time, Tesla will also provide conversion equipment for vehicles already sold to achieve compatibility with the new national standard. Ultimately, both new and old Tesla users will be able to conveniently enjoy charging services with all charging facilities that meet the new national standard. With the rapid development of China's charging infrastructure in the next few years, Tesla users will completely eliminate their concerns about charging."

That is to say, after the new version of China's charging standard is released, new cars sold by Tesla in China will be fully compatible with the national standard, and models already sold will also be compatible with the national standard through conversion plugs. The number of charging piles available for Tesla will increase several times at once.

The two major documents, "Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Construction Plan" and "Charging Infrastructure Construction Guiding Opinions", formulated by the National Energy Administration, were rumored to be released at the end of 2014. They will clarify the medium- and long-term direction, target requirements, technical standards, and specific division of labor among local governments (ministries and commissions) for the construction of charging pile (station) infrastructure, but they were ultimately "difficult to deliver" amid the interest game among various departments.

According to a relevant person in charge of Tesla, each car company has its own standards for what kind of interfaces and sizes to use on the car, because companies always want to protect their own interests. The final result of the game is that each company produces charging piles that are compatible with its own electric vehicles.

However, this industry standard is in the process of being unified. "The relevant standards are being formulated and are expected to be released and implemented in the second half of next year. After the new standards are released, Tesla will fully support the new national standards and modify the production vehicles to comply with the new national standards. At the same time, Tesla will also provide conversion equipment for the vehicles that have been sold to be perfectly compatible with the new national standards." Gao Xiang said.

"Plant trees first, enjoy the shade later." Tesla, who did not understand China's national conditions, learned this principle first.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.