Tesla charging station “can’t pay for electricity” falls out of Shinsegae and E-mart

Tesla-specific rapid chargers are installed in a parking lot in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. Tesla plans to start operating its Shanghai plant at the end of this year and produce low-cost models, such as the Model 3. [로이터=연합뉴스]

Tesla charging stations installed in E-Mart and Shinsegae Department Stores nationwide are missing. This is because Tesla Korea rejected E-Mart’s request to “pay the electricity bill for installing the charger.”

According to the automobile industry on the 5th, Tesla’s slow charger, called the “destination charger,” will withdraw from both E-Mart and Shinsegae Department Store. Shinsegae Department Store removed all chargers at the end of last year. E-Mart is currently in progress. An official from E-Mart explained, “The contract for the operation of the Tesla electric vehicle charging station expired in the second half of last year. The agreement between the two companies led to the withdrawal of the facility.” According to the charging speed of Tesla, fast chargers are classified as’super chargers’ and slow chargers are classified as destination chargers.

Since 2016, Tesla Korea has signed contracts with E-Mart and Shinsegae, respectively, and has operated electric vehicle charging stations in-store. Shinsegae Group (E-Mart and Shinsegae Department Store) paid for electricity and parking. The purpose of this is to provide a premium service that allows electric vehicles to charge themselves during shopping after users park. At the time, the construction of electric vehicle charging infrastructure was a differentiated service compared to competing department stores and marts.

E-Mart has operated about 20 chargers in 10 stores including Seongsu in Seoul over the past four years, and about 30 chargers in Shinsegae Department Store in Gangnam. Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Jeong Yong-jin is also widely known as the’first domestic Tesla customer’ who purchased Tesla’s’Model S’in 2014. Vice-Chairman Jeong also visited in person when the Tesla store opened in Hanam, Starfield in 2017.

At the time of renewal in July of last year, E-Mart requested to pay the minimum maintenance fee, but Tesla Korea refused. Because there are more than 200 destination chargers installed in Korea, Tesla is said to have expressed difficulty in the cost burden. Even BMW Korea, which started the charging business at E-Mart in 2014, six years before Tesla, has been paying its own electricity bills. Chargeby is a common charging service for electric vehicles operated by POSCO ICT.

E-Mart is reviewing a plan to convert the Tesla charging facility into a public charging facility that can be used by any electric vehicle. Electric cars from Hyundai Motor Company and other car makers are expected to be available as long as they meet the charging standards.

Reporter Kim Young-min [email protected]