A new Shanghai-based Tesla factory on cards

KUALA LUMPUR: Yes, that’s true. Tesla is planning a new factory based in Shanghai. As per reports, the new Tesla plant will be near the existing Gigafactory 3, in the Lingang-free trade zone.

For those who aren’t aware, the Gigafactory 3 is Tesla’s first plant outside America and is fully owned by a foreign party in China where a joint venture with a local firm is usually required. It currently has a capacity of 450,000 units per year.

Reuters says that with the new plant in place, Tesla is aiming for an annual capacity of around two million units. The South China Morning Post,on the other hand, said the two million figure is a long-term figure with the immediate capacity more likely to get doubled to at least one million vehicles annually. Tesla China, however, declined to comment.

As for Tesla China’s sales performance, it sold 484,130 cars in 2021 that is half of the automaker's global sales of 936,000 units. Bifurcating the numbers model-wise, they sold 321,000 units of Model 3 and Model Y in China last year, that’s more than double it sold in 2020.

The remaining 160,000 Tesla’s were exported to markets like Japan and Germany.

Is there such a high demand for EVs?

Yes, the demand is there for electric cars. Last year, China sold 2.99 million new-energy vehicles, showing a 169 percent increase over previous year.

According to the China Passenger Car Association, the sales of new-energy vehicles will go up by 84 percent in 2022.

What else?

The Beijing Daily last year reported that Tesla would invest around 1.2 billion yuan in the Shanghai factory to increase its capacity. And will also employ 4,000 workers to hike the production.

Also Read: Tesla Model 3 and Model S recalled for front trunk & camera problem