Tesla Energy has announced a fresh milestone for its newest Megapack factory. As per the electric vehicle maker, the Shanghai Megafactory has successfully produced its 1,000th Megapack battery. 

The facility was able to hit this milestone less than six months after it started producing the grid-scale battery system. 

New Tesla Megapack Milestone

As per Tesla Asia in a post on its official accounts on social media platform X, the 1,000th Megapack unit that was produced at the Shanghai Megafactory would be exported to Europe. As noted in a CNEV Post report, Tesla’s energy products are currently deployed in over 65 countries and regions globally. This allows Tesla Energy to compete in energy markets that are both emerging and mature.

To commemorate the 1,000th Megapack produced at the Shanghai Megafactory, the Tesla China team posted with the grid-scale battery with celebratory balloons that spelled “Megapack 1000.” The milestone was celebrated by Tesla enthusiasts on social media, especially since the Shanghai Megafactory only started its operations earlier this year.

Quick Megafactory Ramp

The Shanghai Megafactory, similar to Tesla’s other key facilities in China, was constructed quickly. The facility started its construction on May 23, 2024, and it was hailed as Tesla’s first entry storage project outside the United States. Less than a year later, on February 11, 2025, the Shanghai Megafactory officially started producing Megapack batteries. And by March 21, 2025, Tesla China noted that it had shipped the first batch of Megapack batteries from the Shanghai plant to foreign markets.

While the Shanghai Megafactory is still not at the same level of output as Tesla’s Lathrop Megafactory, which produces about 10,000 Megapacks per year, its ramp seems to be quite steady and quick. It would then not be surprising if Tesla China announces the Shanghai Megafactory’s 2,000th Megapack milestone in the coming months.

Renowned tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities has shared some insights on Tesla’s $16.5 billion AI6 deal with Samsung. As per the analyst, the deal is a valuable opportunity for Tesla to bolster its chip design and manufacturing expertise. 

Kuo’s endorsement, which was posted on X, highlighted the deal’s potential to reshape the electric vehicle maker’s supply chain and strengthen its standing in the semiconductor landscape.

Tesla’s Strategic Gain

Kuo, who widely regarded as the “best Apple analyst on the planet” due to his eerily accurate forecasts, noted that the Tesla-Samsung partnership is a game-changer. He emphasized that Tesla’s access to Samsung’s Texas foundry will enhance the EV maker’s chip design capabilities. This was highlighted by CEO Elon Musk on X, when he stated that he would be walking the line “personally to accelerate the pace” of the facility’s progress.

“For Elon Musk and Tesla, this represents a valuable opportunity to gain real-world foundry experience at an exceptionally low cost — something TSMC would never allow,” Kuo wrote in his X post. 

The deal tasks Samsung’s new Taylor, Texas, facility with producing Tesla’s AI6 chips, which are expected to be used for large volume products like the Cybercab and Optimus. Kuo’s analysis highlighted that the move diversifies Tesla’s reliance on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), which has been contracted to produce the EV maker’s AI5 chip.

Challenges and Optimism

Kuo acknowledged risks in Samsung’s 2nm SF2 process, which has a lower yield compared to TSMC’s 2nm N2 node. Yet, he remains optimistic, noting that “Elon Musk’s execution is proven, and SF2’s adoption of the same GAA technology as SF3 should facilitate mass production.” 

Even if Samsung were to falter, Kuo noted that Tesla could simply shift its AI6 deal to TSMC, absorbing design know-how in the process. TSMC, after all, would likely accept Tesla’s business considering the scale of the company’s Cybercab and Optimus business. 

“If production falls short of expectations, the worst-case scenario for Tesla would be to shift the order back to TSMC and absorb the resulting delays to AI6. However, Tesla’s edge in real-world AI could significantly reduce the risk of AI6 delays. Regardless, Tesla still gains from enhanced design capabilities and deeper chip manufacturing know-how,” Kuo wrote.

For Samsung, Kuo sees the deal as a low-risk, high-reward scenario. The Tesla deal could then reinvigorate the South Korean tech giant’s foundry business, positioning Samsung as a viable TSMC rival.

“If AI6 reaches mass production smoothly, chip design and manufacturing could become a core competitive advantage across Elon Musk’s businesses — enabling greater flexibility and lower costs. While Samsung may not fully catch up with TSMC in advanced nodes, it has at least discovered a new business model that actively involves customers in the manufacturing process,” the analyst wrote.

Tesla hinted that a smaller pickup truck could be on the way, but the company did not clarify whether it would be an abbreviated version of the Cybertruck, or a new design altogether.

The Cybertruck is unlike any vehicle that has ever come before it. Some other vehicles, like the DeLorean, have had similar shapes, but no manufacturer or pickup brand has ever tried to build such an interesting and unorthodox truck, especially in the quantity Tesla builds them.

Only available in North America and the United Arab Emirates (for order as of now, as deliveries are not expected until the end of this year), the Cybertruck has not made its way to areas like Europe or Asia, where Tesla has a sizeable presence. Much of this is due to the sheer size of the pickup, which would not be an ideal vehicle for many of the tight streets and various traffic conditions.

Elon Musk hints at smaller Tesla Cybertruck version down the road

Tesla already made the Cybertruck smaller before it started manufacturing it and delivering it to customers in October 2023. This was to help it fit inside the Boring Company tunnels, but it also seemed as if it just needed a slight scaling back for general public use.

Tesla’s VP of Powertrain, Lars Moravy, spoke on Saturday at the X Takeover about a significant change in the Tesla lineup that has been discussed internally by the company, as questions relating to the Cybertruck’s size and its ability to be useful or practical in other markets continue to be questioned.

He was asked, “Do you see a need for a smaller, more globally scalable version to serve broader, more urban or international segments of the pickup market?”

He said:

“We always talked about making a smaller pickup. I think in the future, as more and more of the Robotaxi comes into the world, we look at those options and we think about, ‘Okay, that kind of service is useful not just for people, but also for goods.”

He continued by stating that Tesla has been working in its Design Studio, located in Hawthorne, California, with potential designs:

“We’ve definitely been churning in the design studio about what we might do to serve that need, for sure.”

The question and answer start at the 22:22 mark of the video below:

Join Tesla VP @larsmoravy for an exclusive keynote on cutting-edge vehicle engineering! Insider views on Cybertruck, Robotaxi, & sustainable energy innovations.
Watch live on @teslaownersSV from X Takeover 2025 in San Mateo! @corporatestrea1 https://t.co/Fk7kAF3ZfW

— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) July 26, 2025

It sounds as if the question is phrased as, “Will Tesla develop a smaller Cybertruck?” while Lars’s answer only specifies “pickup,” and not necessarily “a smaller Cybertruck.”

It also seems that, if Tesla is doing as much work as it sounds like in the Design Studio, perhaps it is mulling a new pickup design altogether. The Cybertruck has been the best-selling electric pickup on many occasions from a quarterly perspective, and it was the best-selling EV pickup in 2024.

Tesla has designed smaller pickups in the past, but they’ve never made it to market. An exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles showed internal drawings of pickup concepts that Tesla considered for its lineup.