Tesla Giga factory Shanghai upgrade was going on in the past few months. It is finally completed and the production lines are ready for testing from September 19 to November 30. The expansion is nothing but upgradation. The production line is a long way to making the Giga Shanghai factory Tesla’s most productive factory.
Previous reports from Reuters have noted that the electric vehicle maker has been pushing to ramp its vehicle production output to about 2,200 units of Model 3 and Model Y per day. Recent comments from Tesla China VP Grace Tao also indicated that Gigafactory Shanghai’s supply chain had been 95% localized. Suppliers are within a 4-hour driving distance in the Yangtze River Delta as well.
Tesla has not issued a comment about the matter as of writing. Beijing Daily, a state-backed newspaper, noted last November that Tesla was looking to invest about $170 million to expand Giga Shanghai’s production capacity. The upgrades are also expected to enable Tesla to employ 4,000 more people at the facility. The state-backed newspaper estimated then that the upgrades were expected to be completed around April. Giga Shanghai’s momentum was cut in late March and April, however, as China enacted its strictest Covid-related shutdowns since the start of the pandemic.
Operations
With Shanghai locked down, the activities of Tesla’s China-based EV plant ground to a halt, and even when it resumed, it took a while before normal operations were resumed. Elon Musk highlighted this during Tesla’s Q2 2022 earnings call. “So just as a Q2 recap, Q2 was a unique quarter for Tesla due to a prolonged shutdown of our Shanghai factory. But in spite of all these challenges, it was one of the strongest quarters in our history. Most importantly, in June, we achieved production records in both Fremont and Shanghai,” Musk said.
It is predicted to produce between 1,000 to 2,000 Model 3 units daily. The Model Y assembly line would have the capacity to produce up to 2,200 units per day. Tesla China finished upgrading the Model Y assembly line on July 16. COVID shutdowns hampered Tesla Shanghai’s production in the first and second quarter. Despite the shutdown, however, Tesla reported that Giga Shanghai achieved new production records in June. “So just as a Q2 recap, Q2 was a unique quarter for Tesla due to a prolonged shutdown of our Shanghai factory. But in spite of all these challenges, it was one of the strongest quarters in our history. Most importantly, in June, we achieved production records in both Fremont and Shanghai,” highlighted Elon Musk during the last earnings call.
