US electric car maker Tesla Motors has announced plans for a network of charging stations in China to allow owners of its cars to charge their cars for free and travel long distances, the Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.

A Model S can travel 250 kilometers after a 20 minute recharge, Xinhua cited a Tesla statement as saying in its report.

Before this fall, Tesla is ­expected to establish service centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang Province, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province, and Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, the statement said.

The company is also training third-party electricians to install charging facilities, Xinhua said.

Tesla plans to start selling its luxury sedans in China this month, the company's ­co-founder, Elon Musk, told Bloomberg on Tuesday. Tesla arrived in China last year, with a sales center in Beijing.

The Chinese government has been encouraging consumers to buy electric vehicles. But the plan has been hindered by the difficulties with charging infrastructure.

Tesla posted $2.03 billion of revenues in 2013, up from $413.3 million a year earlier, its financial statement said. It made a loss of $74 million last year, it said.

Agencies - Global Times