Chinese Tesla owner turns power line into illegal personal charging station
The owner of a Tesla electric car in China's Sichuan province came up with an innovative way of charging his vehicle: plug it directly into a power line.
Taken during the Lunar New Year holiday somewhere near Chengdu, the photos show that the driver was obviously prepared to implement the "homemade" charging solution, with cables running from the public power line into a transformer box to reduce the risk they would damage the US$120,000 sports car.
“I think [China is] really important. I think it could be as big as the US market – maybe bigger,” CEO Elon Musk said in August.
Zong Yi bought 20 charging pillars from Tesla at 5,000 yuan each and installed them in 16 cities between Beijing and his home in Guangzhou, allowing him to drive his electric car, bought in the capital, home.
“I thought it would be cool if I could build China’s first electric-car-charging road,” Zong told the Wall Street Journal. A spokeswoman told the newspaper Tesla was aware, and approved of, the businessman's plans.