US electric carmaker Tesla Motors said a lack of patience has been a major culprit for its lackluster performance in the world's largest auto market.

"In a lot of ways, I think we have been a little bit too impatient in the Chinese market," said Tesla's vice president of global communications Ricardo Reyes before the Shanghai auto show.

"When I say us, I mean everybody. I mean Tesla, I mean the public, and I mean the Chinese press."

He said there were wild expectations that the automaker would succeed overnight in China when it arrived in 2014 due to its success in the US and European markets.

Nothing happens that fast, said Reyes. He said it took many years to educate people in the US on the benefits of electric vehicles before its popularity grew in the US, and for a long time a lot of people saw the company as "a small child trying to play with grown-ups".

He said Tesla is to go through an education in China as it did in other markets like the US and Europe as "we were and continue to be, especially in the Chinese market, a new car company with new technology".

Reyes believes the job will not be too formidable as China is encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation.

He said visitors to auto shows in China often find halls dedicated to new-energy vehicles but such things are rarely found in other parts of the world.

Speaking of the company's prospects in China, Reyes said he is convinced that Tesla will succeed in China although his measure of success is not by numbers, at least in the short run.

"I will call it a success if the majority of the public goes to understand not just Tesla as a brand but more importantly that electric cars are the way of future and present better solutions than internal combustion ones," Reyes said.