Tesla confirms a deal allowing the start of Gigafactory 3 building in Shanghai.
The first cars are expected to roll-out in two years.
“Last year, we announced that we were working with the Shanghai Municipal Government to explore the possibility of establishing a factory in the region to serve the Chinese market,” Tesla told Electrek.
“We’ve signed a cooperative agreement for Tesla to start building Gigafactory 3, a new electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Shanghai.
“We expect construction to begin in the near future after we get all the necessary approvals and permits. From there, it will take roughly two years until we start producing vehicles and then another two to three years before the factory is fully ramped up to produce around 500,000 vehicles per year for Chinese customers.”
Tesla says the announcement won’t impact its US manufacturing operations.
Chief executive officer Elon Musk attended the signing with other Tesla executives.
Musk says Gigafactory 3 will be a state-of-the-art vehicle factory and a role model for sustainability. The Shanghai government also announced a research and development aspect will accompany Tesla’s effort in the region.
It says the Gigafactory, which aims to build 500,000 EVs annually, has officially settled in Shanghai Lingang Area Development Administration. It is the largest foreign-invested manufacturing project in Shanghai’s history.
Both parties will focus their cooperation on jointly promoting technology innovation and industry development.
