Tesla Begins Trial Production at New Shanghai Megafactory

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.

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.