After approximately seven months of rapid construction, Tesla has completed its second Megapack production facility.
This facility is notable for being the first outside the United States, located in Shanghai, China.
As reported by Xinhua Net on Tuesday, the facility officially began trial production of grid-scale batteries.
Production Goals and Timeline
The Shanghai Megafactory is set to begin its production ramp-up immediately, with plans to deliver its first Megapacks in Q1 2025.
Once reaching full production capacity, the facility aims to produce:
- 10,000 Megapack units annually
- Total output capacity of 40 GWh per year
- Matching the production capacity of Tesla’s California facility
Facility Details and Investment
The new facility is located in the Lingang Economic Development Group complex, near Tesla’s existing Shanghai Gigafactory.
The project specifications include:
- Facility size: 200,000 square meters (656,168 square feet)
- Total investment: 1.45 billion yuan (approximately $201.7 million)
Project Timeline
The development of the Shanghai Megafactory progressed rapidly through several key milestones:
- December 2023: Signing ceremony for the construction project
- March 2024: Initial building materials arrived on-site
- Early May 2024: Official construction approval received and groundbreaking
- December 2024: Construction completion and start of trial production
Comparison with Lathrop Facility
Tesla’s first Megafactory in Lathrop, California, which began operations in 2022, recently marked the production of its first 10,000 Megapacks.
This milestone provides insight into typical production ramp-up timelines.
However, given the exceptional speed of the Shanghai facility’s construction, there’s speculation that its production ramp-up could potentially proceed more quickly than the Lathrop site, though this remains to be seen.
#Tesla's megafactory in Shanghai has officially started trial production, according to Tesla China! Exciting moments ahead as the new plant ramps up production of energy-storage Megapacks. @Tesla pic.twitter.com/KZwGlgdcHn
— China Xinhua Sci-Tech (@XHscitech) December 31, 2024
The success of both facilities in reaching their annual production targets of 10,000 Megapacks will be closely monitored in the coming months and years.