A recent drone flyover of the Giga Texas complex has revealed something quite interesting. Parked alongside the Tesla Model Y and Tesla Cybertruck units at the facility’s outbound lot were several upgraded Tesla Model 3 sedans. The presence of the upgraded Model 3 at Giga Texas is quite interesting as the facility is only known to produce the Model Y and Cybertruck for now.
Footage of the upgraded Model 3 units at Giga Texas’ outbound lots was captured by longtime Tesla watcher Joe Tegtmeyer, who conducted a drone flyover at the complex on March 20, 2024. Tegtmeyer captured a number of interesting updates in Giga Texas, one of which was the presence of about 300 Cybertrucks at the site.
Tesla has not provided an explanation behind the presence of the upgraded Model 3 sedans at Giga Texas’ outbound lots, though some EV watchers have speculated that the vehicles may have been shipped to the site from the Fremont Factory. Such a scenario seems plausible as Tesla may be using Giga Texas as a shipping hub for upgraded Model 3 orders in nearby states.
That being said, the worldwide demand for the upgraded Model 3 is being met by just two out of Tesla’s four existing production facilities, the Fremont Factory and Giga Shanghai. Thus, it may be a good idea for Tesla to eventually migrate some of the upgraded Model 3’s production to its newer, more advanced factories such as Giga Texas and Giga Berlin-Brandenburg.
Both Elon Musk and Tesla have actually mentioned this in the past. During Tesla’s Q2 2020 earnings call, Elon Musk noted that Giga Texas would build not just the Model Y crossover and the Cybertruck; it would also build other vehicles like the Tesla Semi and the Model 3 sedan. “We’re going to be doing a major factory there. And it’s also where we will be doing Cybertruck there, the Tesla Semi, and we will be doing Model 3 and Y for the eastern half of North America,” Musk said at the time.
In 2021, Tesla’s official Manufacturing page also featured references to Model 3 production at Giga Texas. When Tesla launched the page, the description for Gigafactory Texas noted that the facility “will produce Cybertruck, Model 3, and Model Y after its expected 2021 completion.” The page has since been updated to remove references to the production of the Model 3 on the site.
Watch Joe Tegtmeyer’s March 20, 2024 Giga Texas drone flyover in the video below.
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