Tesla plans new Shanghai plant to build megapack batteries
Tesla is leveraging China’s world leading battery supply chain to ramp up output and lower costs of Megapack lithium ion battery units.
Tesla will build a new battery factory in Shanghai, increasing investment in China at a time of brewing tensions between Beijing and Washington. Tesla will manufacture Megapack large-scale energy-storage units in the new facility, which adds to its factory for electric vehicles in Shanghai. Tesla made the announcement at a signing ceremony for the project in Shanghai. Tom Zhu, Tesla’s senior vice president of automotive, and Shanghai government officials including vice mayor Wu Qing attended, with Tesla Vice President Tao Lin signing the contract. Tesla CEO Elon Musk was also reportedly in China at the time. Tesla is leveraging China’s world leading battery supply chain to ramp up output and lower costs of Megapack lithium ion battery units to meet rising demand of energy storage globally as the world shifts to use more renewable energy. Construction is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of this year and the plant will commence production in the second quarter of 2024, the company said in a statement. Tesla already operates a Megafactory in Lathrop, Calif., capable of manufacturing 10,000 Megapacks per year. Tesla’s deepening China investment comes shortly after France’s Airbus SE announced plans to double its production capacity in the country for one of its top-selling jets. The European planemaker will add a second final assembly line for A320 narrow-bodies at a factory in Tianjin, under a deal signed by CEO Guillaume Faury in Beijing on Thursday. Source: Automotive News
