December 07, 2023 – Tesla is reportedly planning to revive the construction of its third automotive factory in Shanghai. According to sources close to the matter, Tesla initiated preparations for the construction of the third phase of the factory in 2021, forming teams for the project. However, progress was halted in the middle of last year, and many of the personnel hired for the third phase were reassigned to other departments.
In April of this year, Tesla revealed its plans to build a massive 40 GWh energy storage superfactory in Shanghai, with construction scheduled to commence in the third quarter of 2023 and production set to begin in the second quarter of 2024. Initially, this facility is planned to produce up to 10,000 units of commercial energy storage batteries annually. Notably, at that time, Tesla did not mention any expansion of its automotive factory, leaving the relationship between the Shanghai third-phase factory project and the energy storage superfactory project unclear.
Furthermore, Tesla will begin selling energy storage battery products produced in Shanghai locally starting next year. The Shanghai factory’s energy storage project has already recruited a head of research and development and is currently in the process of hiring a sales leader.
In 2020, Elon Musk teased a next-generation vehicle priced at $25,000 (approximately 150,000 RMB at the exchange rate at the time). Industry experts speculate that if successfully executed, the future production focus of the Shanghai third-phase factory might be centered around this model.
During the third-quarter earnings call in 2022, Musk hinted, “The next-generation vehicle will be smaller than the currently available Model 3, and its cost will be half of the existing platform.”
