Tesla is building a new mega factory in Shanghai with the goal of assembling 10,000 of its energy-storage batteries annually, the automaker announced.
The construction is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of this year and the plant will commence production in the second quarter of 2024, company officials said at a signing ceremony in Shanghai, Chinese media Xinhua reported.
Tom Zhu, Tesla’s senior vice president of automotive, and Shanghai government officials including Vice Mayor Wu Qing attended the signing ceremony where Tesla Vice President Tao Lin signed the contract.
Megapack: The Tesla Megapack is a powerful battery that provides energy storage and support. Each unit can store over 3 MWh of energy, which can power an average of 3,600 homes for one hour.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the factory would “supplement output” from its California plant. The factory will be located in Lingang on the outskirts of Shanghai.
Tesla opening Megapack factory in Shanghai to supplement output of Megapack factory in California https://t.co/hDpqoyNeOx
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 9, 2023
Shanghai’s Lingang free-trade zone is also home to Tesla’s Gigafactory, its first factory outside the United States. In 2019, Tesla became the first wholly foreign-owned automaker in China. The Gigafactory delivered 710,000 vehicles in 2022, recording an increase of 48% from 2021. The plant not only supplies China’s domestic vehicle market but also exports to Europe and Asia.
Tesla’s investment comes soon after France’s Airbus announced plans to double its production capacity by building a second production line at its site in north China’s Tianjin region.
The new manufacturing projects would give a boost to Chinese industry after Apple hastened plans to move some of its manufacturing away from China amid heightened tensions with the United States. Biden administration plans to ban and limit American investments in some Chinese technology companies. Last year, US technology firms that receive federal funding were banned by the U.S. government from building advanced technology facilities in China for 10 years.
