US electric car maker Tesla will set up a second factory in China, also in Shanghai, to make its Megapack batteries, the Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.
Initial capacity of 10,000 batteries per year
The plant will have an initial capacity of 10,000 Megapack batteries per year and should start producing “in the second quarter of 2024”, according to this source. It will be Tesla’s second in Shanghai, following a large site opening in 2019.
Tesla’s megapacks, intended to store energy and stabilize the supply of electrical networks, claim to be able to store more than 3 megawatt hours each.
The announcement comes on the heels of Tesla founder Elon Musk presenting investors with an ambitious but imprecise growth plan. He had confirmed at the beginning of March the construction in Mexico of another plant, for the assembly of vehicles, near Monterrey.
Tesla is at its zenith, after years of losses, thanks to an impressive succession of record profits, driven by the opening of factories and the increase in its production.
The American group also plays the role of the main catalyst of the current revolution in the automobile, passing most of the innovation efforts of the manufacturers of the internal combustion engine to the electric one.
$43,000 for the cheapest Tesla
Despite this success, Elon Musk failed to achieve some of his ambitious goals. The entry price of his cheapest car, $43,000 for the Model 3, in the United States, proved too high for many Americans, despite his vocation to attract a very large market.
Elon Musk is also late on his schedule to market a fully autonomous vehicle, as driver assistance technology developed by Tesla has spurred investigations by US regulators.
Its relations with China have also drawn attention in Washington, with US President Joe Biden saying in November that the group’s leadership ties to foreign countries were “worthy” of scrutiny.
Source: BFM TV
