Tesla owners in China may soon have the opportunity to personally witness how their vehicles are produced, with VP for External Affairs Grace Tao recently noting that Gigafactory Shanghai tours are poised to begin in the future.
The Tesla executive’s comments were shared in a post on Weibo. While responding to a Tesla enthusiast who asked about the possibility of owners being toured around the massive electric vehicle production complex, Tao remarked that plans for such a program are already in motion. “Will have it. Being planned now,” she wrote.
Factory tours provide Tesla owners a firsthand glimpse into how the company’s premium electric vehicles are created. It also provides the company with a great way to establish a closer relationship with its growing consumer base.
Visitors to Gigafactory Shanghai could expect to see what could very well be described as an early iteration of Elon Musk’s “Alien Dreadnought” concept, which refers to a production facility that is so automated, it looks nearly extraterrestrial. The Model 3 line in Giga Shanghai’s Phase 1 area is particularly notable, as it’s a facility that represents an evolved form of GF4, a sprung structure-based production line created during the Model 3’s “production hell” in the United States.
The Tesla China VP’s update was received warmly by members of the electric vehicle community, some of whom wondered if it would be possible for owners of non-Made-in-China vehicles to tour Giga Shanghai as well. Tao’s update bodes well for Tesla’s other facilities like Gigafactory Berlin and Gigafactory Texas as well, both of which would likely be open for tours sometime in the future.
Gigafactory Shanghai would be an interesting site to visit, and its Phase 1 and Phase 2 areas would definitely be a sight to behold. The facility, after all, stands as Tesla’s first foreign Gigafactory, and it’s lauded for its speed and precision, both of which allowed it to start mass-producing the Made-in-China Model 3 less than a year after its groundbreaking. Recent reports have also suggested that the Phase 2 zone, where the Model Y is being produced, is ramping even faster than its Phase 1 sibling.
Watch a recent flyover of the Gigafactory Shanghai complex in the video below.
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