Tesla plans to invest $188 million to expand its Shanghai Gigafactory's manufacturing capacity

Editing by Greg Gao

Tesla, the global electric vehicle leader, is planning to invest RMB 1.2 billion($188 million) to scale up its Shanghai Gigafactory's capacity, according to an environmental impact assessment report on Shanghai Environmental Information Disclosure Platform for Enterprises and Institutions.

The construction work is expected to start in December and be completed in April 2022, media reports said.

The project will further lift the EV giant's Model 3 and Model Y production capacity. Tesla said it has already completed the calculation of its project's carbon track and carbon emissions. This project mainly expands the automotive stamping, the car body, the painting workshop, the final assembly workshop, and the logistics operation center.

Tesla said that the project would boost production capacity by increasing working hours, employees, and the frequency of material turnover. According to the company's estimation, after completing the project, there will be 4,000 employees added, and the number of employees in the entire Shanghai Gigafactory will reach 19,000.

In Tesla's third-quarter financial report, its total new vehicle production for the quarter was 237,823, a 64% increase compared to 145,036 in the same period last year. The Shanghai Gigafactory's production capacity had exceeded that of the US factory, remaining Tesla's main "export hub."

The latest data from China Passenger Car Association shows Tesla's China-made vehicles wholesale shipments in October reached 54,391, of which 40,666 were for export. In the previous month, Tesla sold 56,006 China-made cars, of which 52,153 were for domestic retail in China, and only 3,853 were for export.