This will be Tesla’s second factory in the major Chinese city after the huge “Shanghai Gigafactory”, which began work in 2019.
Chinese state media reported Sunday that Tesla will build a new facility in Shanghai to manufacture its “Megapack” batteries.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the plant, which will have an initial capacity of 10,000 megapacks per year, is expected to start “production during the second quarter of 2024.”
The American company that manufactures electric cars says that the “Megapac” batteries are intended to store energy and stabilize the supply of energy networks, as each unit has a storage capacity of more than 3 megawatt-hours of energy.
This will be Tesla’s second factory in the major Chinese city, after the huge “Shanghai Gigafactory”, which began work in 2019.
Local official Lu Yu said the new battery factory is expected to create an “industrial cluster” worth more than $14 billion, according to Xinhua.
The announcement comes after Tesla Chairman Elon Musk presented a vague but ambitious plan to investors to boost growth.
Tesla made its move after years of losses, posting a record profit streak as more factories opened and production increased.
The company has also been a major catalyst for a revolution in the transportation sector, and many innovation efforts in the automotive industry are moving away from internal combustion engines towards electric cars.
Even with this success, Musk fell short of some of his grandiose goals.
The cheapest Tesla, the Model 3, starts at $43,000 in the United States, which is prohibitive for many consumers.
Musk has missed the deadlines he set himself to complete fully self-driving models, as US regulators have opened a series of investigations into Tesla’s driving assistance program.
Musk’s ties to China have also raised questions in Washington, where US President Joe Biden said in November that Tesla’s links to foreign countries “worth” scrutiny.
