Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai to start production at the end of 2019

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Gasgoo reported earlier this week the latest buildout of Tesla's Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai revealed by a drone video footage offered by a Tesla's enthusiast. The video showed that the main structure and the installation of several industrial-grade air conditioning units for the general assembly building have been completed.

On August 7, Tesla China officially announced via its Sina Weibo account, a hugely popular microblogging site, that the Gigafactory 3 is expected to start production at the end of 2019.

(Photo source: Tesla's Sina Weibo account)

“Tesla's Shanghai factory has been constructed smoothly so far. It is only seven months after its groundbreaking,” the EV startup said.

The Tesla's Shanghai-based plant, integrating functions of R&D, manufacturing and sales, is expected to produce about 3,000 Model 3 vehicles a week in an initial phase, before ramping up output to around 9,600 units a week – 500,000 units per year — when it becomes fully operational.

Tesla is committed to investing roughly $2.04 billion (RMB14.08 billion) into the Gigafactory 3 over the next five years, according to Tesla's SEC fillings submitted on July 29.

The company is also requested to contribute roughly $323 million (RMB2.23 billion) annually in Chinese taxes starting the end of 2023 as part of Tesla's lease agreement with Shanghai municipal government.

It is reported that the Shanghai Gigafactory is set to only produce the Model 3 and the Model Y vehicles, which will be solely sold on China’s market. However, the Model X, the Model S and premium versions of the Model 3 & Y will still be manufactured in the U.S. and then exported to China.