Tesla has received final permission from the Chinese government to start Model 3 production in its $2 billion Shanghai Gigafactory.
The Chinese industry ministry has added the American EV maker to a list of government-approved car manufacturers, Reuters has reported.
This means that, although the factory has yet to be completed, Tesla is legally able to begin making cars and could do so in as little as a few weeks.
The first car to be rolled out of the factory will be the Model 3 saloon, to be joined later by the closely related Model Y SUV. The older Model S and Model X won't be produced in China, as Tesla focuses its attention upon the expected volume-sellers.
In terms of numbers, Bloomberg notes that the Shanghai facility will be capable of producing 500,000 vehicles per year. However, Tesla’s minimum targets are only 10% of this, with the bulk of production - targeted at 500,000 this year - taking place in the company’s factory in Fremont, California.
Compared with the US, China is arguably more amenable to Tesla’s ambitions, since the government heavily subsidises electric vehicles.
Tesla will be able to capitalise on incentives such as purchase tax exemption on domestically produced EVs, as well as easier-to-secure licences. It also allows the firm to bypass the increasingly worrying trade war between China and the US.
More than 1.2 million EVs were sold in China in 2018, making it the world’s largest market for EVs by a significant margin.
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Hard to believe that in around a year they can build a factory from the ground up and start producing such advanced vehicles.
Nice try fanboy
fadyady, not sure anyone perceives themselves as a Tesla-rival. I don't see the board of VW, MBZ etc discussing how they can start production of unrealible self-crashing cars with unpainted panels and scratchy plastic interiors, but if we do see the European manufacturers erecting shade tents in their parking lots for vehicle assembly, we can revisit that...
The real takeaway from the article is how advanced Chinese EV production is - they're selling six times as many cars in their domestic market as Tesla does in the USA. Now we know who the European manufacturers really are chasing...
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Unbeliveable stupidity
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By that measure can we say 'it shows how advance Telsa production - they selling XX times more BEVs than BMW+Mercedes+VAG around the world'.
Also, like you way you mentioned Tesla produce unsafe, badly finished cars with scratchy plastics but go onto say how advanced Chinese cars are.
G4 in Europe