Tesla Motors Electrifies Beijing with First Supercharger Site

Beijing has taken a step towards greater electric car infrastructure with the launch of the first Tesla Motors supercharging station earlier this month. And we mean a step, like one small foot in front of the other.

Start feeling green all over: not only is this a charging station for the highest-end production electric car, it's a solar-powered charging station. Of course, it's inconveniently located in the northeast Beijing industrial park that will soon be home to Tesla's new offices, according to CNET, so think about how much battery life it'll chew up just going back and forth to the station.

Things are looking up a bit for Tesla in Beijing. They delivered their first nine cars after some delays, and the Model S now qualifies for the electric license plate exemption. 

Electric cars are still a very mixed bag in China. Whether or not they're actually cleaner is still disputed. While the cars obviously have no emissons, if the electricity used to power them is coming from burning coal, as Beijing's power primarily does, then it won't be helping any of the environmental issues electric cars are supposed to improve. 

And one Tesla charging station isn't going to help change the minds of Beijing car buyers, who are still shying away from the new vehicle class. Interest may rev up in September, when Leonardo DiCaprio and Formula E kick off their global racing series in Beijing in September.

Photo: Christian Science Monitor