Tesla China Plant is Scheduled to start, eyes on mass production timing: sources

Shanghai: The Tesla China plant is scheduled to begin production this month, but due to the uncertainty of orders, labor and suppliers, it is unclear when it will reach the end of the year.

The US electric car manufacturer plans to produce at least 1,000 Model 3s per week from the new plant by the end of the year, which is at the heart of its ambition to increase sales in the world's largest auto market and avoid levying higher on US cars. Import duties.

The plant's mass production schedule is critical to Tesla's hopes of achieving an annual production capacity of 500,000 vehicles by the end of the year.

What Source Say about Plant's Mass Production

According to sources, the $2 billion plant is Tesla's first overseas automaker, which received key government approvals last month and plans to begin plant's mass production in October.

We aim to start some production in October, but the actual production volume depends on many factors including car orders we received, performance of newly hired workers, supply chain and so on, a Tesla source told about Tesla china plant to Reuters.

It’s unclear when we can reach the 1,000-2,000 units per week target,the person said he declined to give his name because he was not allowed to speak to the media.

Tesla did not respond to comment requests.

In the wake of the China-US trade war and the weakened Chinese auto market, the factory began functioning. According to the Industry Association, the sale of new energy vehicles was contracted for the second consecutive month in August, and this year's growth could be down to 1.6 million units, down from a prediction of 1.6 million units.

According to research firm LMC Automotive, Tesla performed better due to the strong demand for the Model 3. In the first seven months of this year, sales in the Chinese market increased by 98%.

New Phase

Tesla has begun new construction work at the factory to express confidence in its China strategy. The new facility will include a battery pack production unit based on company sources and documents.

Construction documents show that the so-called 1.5-stage project has not been reported before, including a production plant and an energy center. The construction plan will be completed around the end of this year.

Based on its job advertisements, Tesla also hopes to hire battery-related production engineers in Shanghai.

Tesla said the plant will be simpler and more cost-effective than the existing Model 3 line. By the completion of the second phase, its annual production capacity will reach 500,000 units, while the initial stage capacity will be 250,000 units.

The plant is China's first wholly foreign-owned automobile manufacturing plant, reflecting Beijing's extensive changes to expand its automotive market.

The Shanghai authorities have provided assistance to speed up construction. China has excluded the Tesla model from the 10% car purchase tax on August 30.

According to several sources involved in the project, the Tesla projects national partners include Shanghai Construction Group, China Construction Industry and Energy Engineering Group, State Grid, China Power Construction Corporation and MinMetals' Shanghai subsidiary Baoye.