Connect with us
Tesla-china-megafactory-construction-2024-update Tesla-china-megafactory-construction-2024-update

News

Tesla’s Megafactory Shanghai is now around 60% complete

Credit: Grace Tao/Weibo

Published

on

Construction on Tesla’s upcoming Megapack factory in China has been coming along quite quickly, with a new local update stating that the plant has now surpassed the halfway point.

Tesla has reached 60 percent completion on the construction of the Shanghai Megafactory, as reported on Saturday by local media outlet IT Home. The news comes as Tesla aims to start Megapack production in the first quarter of 2025, though it will take some time for the company to ramp up to volume production.

Eventually, the Shanghai Megafactory is expected to match the volume production of Tesla’s Lathrop, California plant, both of which are aiming to reach an annual output of around 40GWh or roughly 10,000 Megapack units per year. The Lathrop Megafactory has also been ramping up production over the past couple of years, especially as demand for Tesla’s grid-scale energy products has been growing.

Tesla Lathrop Megafactory helps energy business see 360% YoY growth

Although Tesla held a signing ceremony for the Shanghai Megafactory last December, building materials for the construction project only began arriving in March. Tesla officially broke ground on the project on May 23, and construction has been progressing at an impressive rate in the months since—not unlike how quickly the company constructed its nearby Gigafactory Shanghai.

Advertisement

Last month, Tesla was thought to have reached about 45 percent completion, showing off just how quickly the company’s latest factory build has been coming together since breaking ground in May. The Shanghai Megafactory site is located in the city’s Lingang New Area industrial park, with the plant taking up around 200,000 square meters (~656,168 sq. ft.) total.

In the second quarter, Tesla deployed 9.4 GWh of battery storage, marking a record-high for single-quarter energy deployments. The record followed 4.1 GWh of battery storage deployments in Q1, which also marked a 157 percent increase year over year. The growth of Tesla Energy follows suit with predictions from Elon Musk made last year, in which he said that energy sales growth would soon begin outpacing that of the company’s automotive business.

Tesla China exports 1 million vehicles from Giga Shanghai

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

Advertisement

Zach is a renewable energy reporter who has been covering electric vehicles since 2020. He grew up in Fremont, California, and he currently lives in Colorado. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, KRON4 San Francisco, FOX31 Denver, InsideEVs, CleanTechnica, and many other publications. When he isn't covering Tesla or other EV companies, you can find him writing and performing music, drinking a good cup of coffee, or hanging out with his cats, Banks and Freddie. Reach out at zach@teslarati.com, find him on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

Advertisement
Comments

News

Tesla Insurance is heading to a new state for the first time in years

Tesla Insurance launched back in late 2019, and it was massive because it was the first time a company aimed to cover its vehicle owners in-house without the need for third-party companies.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla Insurance is heading to a new state for the first time in years, as the company is aiming to launch its in-house coverage platform in Florida.

Tesla Insurance launched back in late 2019, and it was massive because it was the first time a company aimed to cover its vehicle owners in-house without the need for third-party companies.

Tesla Insurance goes live with claims of lower rates by 20-30%

However, it has struggled to expand and only offers insurance in twelve states currently.

Tesla Insurance is available in:

Advertisement
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Illinois
  • Maryland
  • Minnesota
  • Nevada
  • Ohio
  • Oregon
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Virginia

In California, Tesla cannot offer real-time insurance or telematics due to regulatory rules.

The company uses a Safety Score to adjust rates based on driving behaviors. The current version, which is called Safety Score Beta v2.2, tracks Hard Braking, Aggressive Turning, Unsafe Following, Excessive Speeding, Late-Night Driving, Forced Autopilot Engagement, and Unbuckled Driving to determine the rate it should charge.

Tesla is working to expand into new markets and has filed applications to launch the program into new U.S. states. Back in 2022, it filed to offer insurance to Florida drivers, but it did not launch.

However, the company just filed to update its Private Passenger Auto program in Florida, according to the insurance site CoverageR.

It would be the first new state to obtain Tesla Insurance since Utah and Maryland launched over three years ago.

Tesla Insurance is now in Utah and Maryland

Advertisement

Tesla has its eyes on other states, including Georgia, New Jersey, Oregon, and Virginia.

It has also tried to expand to Europe, as it opened an office specifically for Insurance. It was also hiring for Legal Counsel specializing in Insurance on the continent, but nothing ever expanded to an actual offering of vehicle coverage.

Tesla Insurance is an advantage for owners specifically because the company is familiar with its vehicles, the parts, and the repair processes that are required to get a car back on the road.

This was a big reason some drivers switched from the previous providers to the in-house Insurance Tesla was able to offer.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

News

Tesla launches new interior option for rare Model Y trim

Tesla just launched a new light grey interior option for the Model Y L in China, which will cost $1,120.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla China

Tesla has launched a new interior option for the rare Model Y L trim that is available only in China, marking the first new color for the inside of a vehicle in some time.

Tesla has traditionally stuck with either Black or White interior options with the Model 3 and Model Y, although the Model S and Model X have had additional colors. The Model S and Model X still have a Walnut Cream interior option that costs an additional $2,000.

With the mass market models, however, Tesla has maintained the Black or White selections, until now, at least in China.

Tesla just launched a new light grey interior option for the Model Y L in China, which will cost $1,120.

It differs from the white interior slightly, but it is nice for buyers in China to have this third option:

Advertisement

The new color is only available on the Model Y L in China, so customers who take delivery of other trim levels or in other regions will not have this color available to them, just as the vehicle configuration itself is exclusive to that market.

In terms of whether it will make its way to other markets, CEO Elon Musk has said that the Model Y L could potentially make its way to the United States at the end of 2026, but it is not a certainty.

Musk said:

“This variant of the Model Y doesn’t start production in the U.S. until the end of next year. Might not ever, given the advent of self-driving in America.”

This came as a disappointment to many fans and owners in the U.S. because people here have been pushing Tesla to create and manufacture a new, full-size SUV, or at least something more traditional that competes with vehicles like the Chevrolet Tahoe and Ford Expedition.

While the Model Y L is not on par with the size of those vehicles, it is a longer and larger version of the best-selling Model Y.

Tesla China shows off Model Y L’s manufacturing process in new video

Advertisement

Nevertheless, the new interior option is something we could hopefully see added to U.S. vehicles, although it seems Tesla’s focus is truly dialed in on the Cybercab and expanding Robotaxi and autonomy.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla Gigafactory Texas builds its half millionth vehicle

The milestone was shared via Twitter/X by the official @Gigafactories account.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla Manufacturing/X

Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas has officially rolled out its 500,000th vehicle, marking a significant achievement in the factory’s history and reinforcing its role as a central hub in Tesla’s vehicle manufacturing network. 

The milestone was shared via Twitter/X by the official @Gigafactories account. “Congratulations to the Giga Texas team for building 500k vehicles,” the company’s X post read.

As could be seen in Tesla Manufacturing’s post, the Gigafactory Texas team celebrated the milestone by posting for a photograph with the facility’s half millionth unit, a white Tesla Model Y. The team held balloons that spelled “500K” on its commemorative photo. 

Giga Texas, located near Austin, has ramped its operations since its launch, producing Tesla’s Cybertruck and Model Y. Crossing the half-million vehicle mark solidifies the facility’s importance to Tesla’s overall operations, especially considering the fact that the Model Y is the company’s best-selling vehicle.

While Giga Texas is just producing the Model Y and the Cybertruck for now, the facility is also poised to produce the Cybercab. The Cybercab is expected to be Tesla’s highest volume vehicle, with Elon Musk estimating that the company would be producing about 2 million units of the autonomous two-seater per year. 

Advertisement

The Cybercab is unlike any vehicle that is currently produced today, and its production would be quite extraordinary. As per Elon Musk’s previous comments, the Cybercab’s manufacturing line would not look like an automotive production line at all. Instead, Musk noted that the Cybercab’s line in Gigafactory Texas would resemble a high-speed consumer electronics line instead.

“We do want to scale up production to new heights obviously with the Cybercab. Cybercab is not just revolutionary car design. It’s also a revolutionary manufacturing process. So I guess we probably don’t talk about that enough, but if you’ve seen the design of the Cybercab line, it doesn’t look like a normal car manufacturing line. It looks like a really high-speed consumer electronics line,” Musk previously stated.

Continue Reading

Trending