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Tesla Model 3 is ready for production in China, says Global VP

(Credit: Jason Yang/YouTube)

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It appears that Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai is fully ready to begin the production of the Made-in-China Model 3. The remarkable and welcome update was announced to Chinese media by an executive from the electric car maker and shared on Twitter by news agency The Global Times

“Tesla Shanghai factory is ready for production and sales will begin after being granted product certification and government approval, said Tesla global vice president Tao Lin,” the media outlet stated in its post. 

Based on the recent update from the Times, it appears that Tesla is now only waiting for a product certification for the Model 3. Product certification reportedly involves the manufacturing of an initial batch of Model 3 units that will be sent over and evaluated by authorities. Once the vehicles pass the evaluation process, Tesla could start selling its Made-in-China Model 3 sedans in the country.  

This bodes well for Tesla and its efforts in China, considering that authorities granted the electric car maker a production certification recently, which permits the company to start manufacturing the Model 3 in the Shanghai-based site. Considering the quick approval granted for Gigafactory 3’s production certification, there is a good chance that the facility’s product certification will likely be approved quickly as well. 

The recent update is quite significant as it was related by an actual executive from the electric car maker. Over the past weeks, numerous reports have emerged speculating that production of the Model 3 in Gigafactory 3 is about to begin, yet these were mostly speculations. With global vice president Tao Lin confirming that Gigafactory 3 only needs a product certificate for the Model 3, Tesla appears to be taking a stand and declaring that it is ready to breach the Chinese EV market with its first locally-produced vehicle. 

Recent drone flyovers of the Gigafactory 3 site corroborates the Tesla executive’s recent statement to the Times. Tesla enthusiast and drone operator Jason Yang, for one, has captured two Model 3 units in the Gigafactory 3 area during a flyover last Friday. Leaked images from the facility’s interior show that an initial batch of Model 3 units has been produced as well. 

Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 could ultimately be the company’s dark horse this fourth quarter. Even if the Shanghai-based site could only sustain a minimal output of Model 3 in 2019, the vehicles produced on the site and sold to the Chinese market could provide a welcome boost to Tesla’s overall vehicle production and delivery numbers for Q4 2019. 

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At the beginning of the year, Tesla announced that it was aiming to deliver 360,000-400,000 vehicles for 2019. To meet the lower end of this estimate, Tesla would have to deliver around 105,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter, a number that it is yet to achieve.

That being said, the Fremont factory in the United States was able to deliver 97,000 vehicles on its own in Q3 2019. With more efficiencies to Model 3 production being implemented in the United States and Gigafactory 3 going live, perhaps Tesla can actually meet its ambitious self-imposed estimates.

Watch a recent flyover of the Gigafactory 3 site in the video below.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Elon Musk

SpaceX’s biggest test yet arrives this week and it’s not a rocket launch

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SpaceX will report second quarter results after the market closes on Tuesday, August 4, marking the first time the company has opened its books to the public since its record IPO in June. Management will host a live audio only webcast at 4:30 p.m. ET, streamed on X, with no dial in option.

The debut carries more weight than a typical first quarter as a public company. Two trading days after the release, on August 6, the first tranche of SpaceX’s lockup expires, freeing roughly 911.5 million insider and employee shares, worth well over $100 billion at current prices and the largest such release in Wall Street history. A second, larger tranche tied to the stock trading 30 percent above its $135 IPO price never triggered, since shares have spent most of July trading below that price.

Wall Street’s models point to revenue near $6.9 billion for the quarter, up sharply from the $4.69 billion SpaceX reported in the first quarter, with a narrower per share loss than the $1.27 posted three months earlier, according to estimates compiled by Motley Fool. Those numbers will be the first look at how SpaceX’s three segments, Starlink, launch and AI, are performing independently.

SpaceX scores another massive Pentagon deal to support military satellites

Investors heading into the call have a specific list of questions. How many net new Starlink subscribers did SpaceX add after ending March with 10.3 million, and is average revenue per user holding up as the service expands into lower income markets. How much of the AI segment’s revenue reflects contract signings with Anthropic, Google and Reflection AI this year, deals that combined could annualize to nearly $28 billion if fully ramped. Whether capital expenditures, which nearly doubled in the AI segment alone between 2024 and 2025, are still accelerating or starting to plateau. And whether management offers any forward guidance at all, something SpaceX has never done publicly.

The report will also land days after Elon Musk publicly denied a Wall Street Journal report describing internal planning to separate Tesla’s China business ahead of a potential Tesla-SpaceX merger. Whether Musk or SpaceX executives address that speculation on the call, even indirectly, maybe something investors will be listening for on Tuesday.

As Teslarati reported after Musk’s own warning to short sellers last week, the CEO has made clear he expects skeptics to be proven wrong over time. Tuesday will be the first chance for the numbers themselves to make that case.

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SpaceX’s Starship just got filmed by its own cargo

SpaceX released new footage of Starship in space captured by the Starlink satellites it deployed.

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SpaceX released a new video Friday evening showing Starship from an angle showcased by its own Starlink satellites, watching the rocket drift away in orbit.

The 65 second clip, posted on X, stitches together footage from four cameras mounted on a single Starlink V3 satellite. It opens with a close view of Starship’s 171 foot upper stage, still catching sunlight, then pulls back as the two spacecraft separate.

The footage comes from Starship’s 13th flight test, which launched July 24 from Starbase after a scrubbed attempt and an abort caused by an engine issue the week before. When Flight 13 finally flew, it carried the first batch of functional Starlink V3 satellites Starship has ever deployed, twenty of them, with six equipped with cameras meant to scan the ship’s heat shield during reentry.

Flight 13 checked most of its boxes. Starship deployed all 20 satellites, relit a Raptor engine in space, and splashed down softly in the Indian Ocean off Western Australia. Musk’s longer term plan calls for a Starlink V3 constellation of 100,000 satellites, according to a recent FCC filing, with Starship as the only vehicle capable of launching them at the volume that requires. Each Starship flight is designed to carry up to 60 V3 satellites once the vehicle reaches routine service, well beyond what Falcon 9 can carry in a single mission.

Starship is next expected to fly with an attempt at catching the ship itself with the launch tower’s mechanical arms, a maneuver SpaceX has so far reserved for the Super Heavy booster.

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Tesla Model Y L’s new features flexed at unveiling event at Diner

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Tesla Model Y L in a field
Credit: Tesla

Tesla flexed the new features of the Model Y L with a dedicated media event at the company’s Diner on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles.

The Model Y L is the extended-wheelbase version of the all-electric crossover, which has been voted the best-selling car in the world on three occasions. The vehicle is already rolling off production lines at Gigafactory Texas, and first deliveries are slated to take place later this year.

Tesla brings Model Y L ‘Launch Series’ to the U.S. at $61,990

Teslarati was invited to the event, but due to some scheduling conflicts, we could not make it to Los Angeles. Instead, we will have our hands on a media unit sometime in August, so we’ll be able to spend some more extended time with the Model Y L.

However, plenty of those who made it to LA shared some cool features that set the Model Y L apart from the Model Y.

Multi-Row Climate Control

Tesla fitted the Model Y L with full climate control on all three rows on the front screen. It can be adjusted by selecting which row you’d like to modify on the right-hand side of the touch screen:

Better Rear Window Visibility

One of the strangest things about the Model Y, especially the Juniper iteration, is the rear window has extremely limited visibility when looking into the rearview mirror.

Tesla has improved upon this with the Model Y L:

PowerShare will be included

Model Y L will come with PowerShare in North America, with an 11.5kW output to your home. Tesla said it would require Powerwall 3 for operation.

Wireless Charging Pad

There has been some speculation that Tesla would upgrade the wireless charging pads in the United States, but this is not the case.

Tesla owner fixes common feature complaint with crafty DIY retrofit

Tesla confirmed that it does not come with the cooled pads as the Y L in China does. This is because North America has not adopted Qi charging yet.

Thermal Management Improvements

These improvements in the Model Y L were seen with thermal management:

  • Up to 15% faster cabin cooling
  • +23% thermal efficiency gained in hot weather, 7 miles of real-world range gained
  • 8x more solar energy reflection off of glass roof
  • 30% reduction in solar energy entering the cabin

Demand

Tesla said the Model Y L is almost sold out in the U.S. It comes with

  • 1 year of FSD Supervised
  • 1 year of Supercharging
  • 1 year of Premium Connectivity
  • Free exterior paint color, interior, and wheel option at no additional cost
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