CHINA Evergrande Group may be a long way from challenging Tesla Inc., but it’s at least thinking about how customers can charge their electric cars more cheaply.

The property developer has established a joint venture with State Grid Corp. of China to co-develop smart car charging technology, according to a statement Sunday on Evergrande’s website.

In China, electric vehicle owners pay about three times as much to use public charging stations as they would to charge their cars at home. That’s because using a public utility pole incurs a bundled commercial power rate and high service fee. What’s more, public chargers are scarce, with only around 2.3 chargers per vehicle, and there aren’t sufficient in residential areas either.

The venture with State Grid aims to change all that.

According to Sunday’s announcement, Evergrande will imbue all its electric vehicles (EVs) with vehicle-to-grid technology. Smart charging plugs will also be located in various residential developments, the statement said, without disclosing any specific locations.

That would allow a user to charge their EV in a residential parking lot overnight, when electricity rates are typically cheaper, the statement said. Then later on, drivers could pump electricity back into the grid and make money. (SD-Agencies)