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Tesla Gigafactory 3 construction in China begins with rapid buildout of perimeter fence
Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai is beginning to take shape, with construction work on the facility entering its first phases. Drone footage taken last Wednesday, for one, recently revealed that workers have seemingly finished laying a perimeter fence around Tesla’s 864,885-square meter plot of land in Shanghai’s Lingang Industrial Zone, paving the way for more work to be done.
The drone footage of Gigafactory 3’s perimeter fence comes just over a week after Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong and Vice Mayor Wu Qing met with Tesla’s leaders in China to check out the company’s new vehicles like the Model 3. During their visit, the officials urged Tesla and other parties involved in the facility’s construction to expedite the buildout of Gigafactory 3.
Tesla’s timeframe for Gigafactory 3 has always been ambitious. When the company initially announced that it plans to start vehicle production in the facility roughly two years after the site’s construction begins, many were dismissive. Tesla critics were quick to note that such a timeframe is too ambitious. Wall Street was equally skeptical, with Consumer Edge Research senior auto analyst James Albertine dubbing Gigafactory 3’s timeline as simply “not feasible.”
Tesla, for its part, eventually opted to change its initial timeline for the facility. Instead of taking a more conservative stance, though, Tesla did the opposite, stating in its Q3 2018 vehicle production and deliveries report that it would be accelerating the construction of Gigafactory 3 even more. Tesla further noted that it expects the project to be a “capital efficient and rapid buildout, using many lessons learned from the Model 3 ramp in North America.”
While the timeframe for Gigafactory 3 is undoubtedly ambitious, the company does enjoy the favor of the Chinese government, allowing Tesla to tap into local resources and manpower. Seemingly as a response to questions about Tesla’s ability to gain funding for the project, for example, reports emerged that local Shanghai banks have given the electric car maker low-interest loans amounting to 30% of the factory’s estimated costs. Tesla’s bid for the 864,885-square meter plot of land also went unchallenged, enabling the company to quickly prepare for the facility’s construction. With this in mind, it appears that the rapid buildout of Gigafactory 3’s perimeter fence is simply yet another sign that the government fully supports the project.
Chinese Media: After Tesla China announced the new pricing structure of Model S and X, many potential customers rush to their nearest Tesla stores to check out the vehicles, many of them were ordered right at the stores, demand largely increased. $TSLA #Tesla #China #TeslaChina pic.twitter.com/NnYUbvsbg4
— vincent (@vincent13031925) December 16, 2018
Gigafactory 3 will play a considerable role in Tesla’s expansion into the Chinese market. By producing vehicles locally, Tesla would be able to avoid the import tariffs placed on its vehicles coming from the United States, while allowing Tesla to release competitively priced cars to go against lower-priced EVs being produced by local carmakers.
China stands as the world’s largest market for electric cars, being a country that is aggressively pushing for sustainable transportation. With this in mind, Tesla’s success in the country would likely be dependent on how it could target the greater Chinese auto industry with its lower-priced vehicles. While the Model S and Model X are mostly seen as status symbols for the successful and wealthy, the luxury sedan and SUV nonetheless cater to the country’s upper class, which represents a much smaller market. With vehicles such as the Model Y and the Model 3 saturating the country from Gigafactory 3, Tesla could tap into China’s ever-growing mainstream electric car market, which is on pace to hit a milestone of 1 million EVs sold in 2018.
Watch the progress of Gigafactory 3 in the video below.
https://youtu.be/rx3mXjQg46U
Tesla Cybercab is using a unique strategy for picking up the correct rider, which is a crucial part of ride-hailing to ensure people end up in the right place and are charged the correct price.
Cybercab will utilize an RGB strip in its front light bar that will illuminate in a variety of different colors to mark itself.
This identifying mark will also appear in the Robotaxi app, giving riders in the same location a notable distinction in an effort to avoid any confusion regarding who should get in each vehicle.
🚨 Tesla is using different light bar colors to help riders understand which vehicle is theirs
Pretty cool strategy pic.twitter.com/eGMpEMeRpc
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 27, 2026
Other ride-hailing services use similar strategies: Lyft and Uber rides are recognizable through driver identity, vehicle type and color, as well as license plate. Waymo will display the rider’s initials on top of the vehicle, letting them know that the specific vehicle for them has arrived.
Tesla’s strategy is unique and interesting, but there are some flaws. Cybercab’s main purpose is aimed toward being an autonomous ride for all, including those who have disabilities like being blind or even color blind.
Tesla will likely have something in the pipeline for those who cannot see colors or have limited vision. There will definitely be multiple ways to identify which vehicle is the one that “you” specifically ordered.
Cybercab is set to start giving public rides next Thursday, September 3, in Austin, as it announced a dedicated event last week and invited many members of the Tesla community.
Additionally, members of the public will be invited as well. Tesla has been offering employee rides in Cybercab for nearly two months.
Tesla has said goodbye to one customization option for its vehicles: the wrap service it launched several years ago.
After launching an in-house wrap service in August 2020 for the first time in China. In the U.S., it launched in October 2023. Tesla continued to expand the program and adjust it with better pricing and fewer options for the Cybertruck.
By December 2023, it was giving owners of the Model 3, Model Y, and the Cybertruck the opportunity to give their vehicle a fresh look with a vinyl wrap.
Tesla revamps in-house vinyl wrap service with better pricing
It was only available in five locations: Costa Mesa, Oceanside, Santa Clara, West Covina, all in California, and Seattle, Washington.
However, Tesla made some big adjustments to its shop, and the wrap service is officially gone:
Tesla has made a LOT of changes to its online shop recently — price increases, price cuts, new options, and several products being removed entirely.
Some of the biggest increases are wheel covers. 👀
📈 PRICE INCREASES
• 2017-2023 | Model 3 Aero Wheel Cover — Style: Refresh…— Phoenix Self-Driving 🐦🔥 (@PhoenixFSD) August 25, 2026
Wraps are very popular across the Tesla lineup, especially since the company offers relatively few colors. Many choose to wrap their Teslas with interesting colors, patterns, or even finishes, turning their cars from glossy to satin or matte.
However, Tesla’s wrap service was so limited geographically that it never really had a chance to get off the ground or compete with local shops. Every area in the United States is now overflowing with detailing shops, mobile detailers, and other automotive specialists, many of whom perform wrap services.
Tesla’s service was confined to the Pacific time zone and only spanned across two states. It was never going to be something Tesla was a major competitor in, nor was it going to disrupt the wrapping industry. Now that the program has ended, it seems pretty ideal to believe it was always going to be a short-term thing.
Along with the wrap service, Tesla removed several other products, but nothing too crazy. The Model 3 Door Pocket and Cupholder Liners, the Model S 19″ Magnetite Wheel and Winter Tire Package, Model X/Y Ski/Snowboard Carrier for Hitch Rack, Tesla’s Electric Summer Party Tee, and the Electric Summer Tee were the other items the company totally eliminated from its online shop.
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Tesla Robotaxi fleet gets a brain upgrade ahead of Cybercab launch event
Tesla’s Robotaxi service now runs longer hours nationwide as its unsupervised fleet quietly grows larger.
Tesla’s Robotaxi service just got easier to catch, with the company’s official Robotaxi account noting that rides are now available from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, across its operating footprint. The account also said its unsupervised fleet is “a lot bigger” than before, though without specifics. The bigger change is what Tesla says upgraded intelligence in vehicle distribution and routing is what’s actually cutting wait times, not a new Full Self-Driving version.
While Tesla did not name the team behind the upgrade, the language points to its AI and fleet software group rather than the driving stack itself. Vehicle distribution and routing in Robotaxi has functioned mostly as a dispatch problem with the software deciding which idle car goes to which rider, and how far it has to travel to get there. “Upgraded intelligence” suggests a smarter version of that dispatch logic, likely using demand forecasting to position idle cars near where riders are about to request them rather than reacting once a request comes in. Tesla’s AI division has built similar prediction systems for other parts of the business, including the neural networks that power FSD itself, so applying that same approach to fleet logistics would be a natural extension rather than a new discipline for the team.
Robotaxi now runs 6am to 10pm, 7 days/week
Unsupervised fleet is a lot bigger
Also, upgraded intelligence in vehicle distribution & routing means you wait less pic.twitter.com/UFZ4bqg2dZ
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) August 26, 2026
Tesla is also about a week away from a separate robotaxi milestone. The company plans to launch Cybercab, its purpose built two seat robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals, in Austin on September 3. Cybercab has been giving employees rides on public and private roads for weeks, and the September event is expected to fold those vehicles into the existing Robotaxi fleet within days of the launch.
Thank you so much @Tesla for inviting us to the Cybercab launch in Austin! 🤠 pic.twitter.com/F1rAR8zd5O
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 22, 2026
Austin previously ran Robotaxi from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. as of last September, a schedule set before the service expanded into Dallas, Houston, Miami, Tampa, Orlando and the Bay Area. Wednesday’s post did not specify whether that extended overnight window still applies in Austin specifically or whether 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. is now the standard across every market. Tesla’s post, visible on its official Robotaxi account, framed the change simply as fewer riders waiting around for a car.
Whether the wider hours hold once Cybercab enters the fleet next week is the next thing worth watching. Tesla has tended to expand Robotaxi in increments, first geofence, then hours, then fleet size, and each step so far has arrived without much advance notice.
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Tesla Cybercab uses a unique strategy for picking up the right rider
Tesla ends in-house wrap service that always seemed like a short-term program
