The 1,900 square metre semi-translucent structure is located near Guangzhou’s auto mall and features three conventional charging points, an auditorium, electric vehicle and battery swap demonstrations and will offer guided tours to explain the technology.

Better Place said the centre is the start point for a network of EV infrastructure across China, installed as part of a strategic co-operation framework signed with China Southern Power Grid (CSG).

The company is already installing similar battery swap stations in Denmark, Israel, Australia, Japan, North America and is planning a network across Western Europe.

CSG already operates 14 charging stations and 2,901 charging poles, totalling 45,000 charge cycles between January and November 2011.