Tesla, the electric vehicle manufacturer founded by Elon Musk, claims it is growing in China as it constructs a new factory to produce its large-scale batteries.
10,000 of its “Megapack” energy storage devices will be able to be produced at the Shanghai site annually, the company claims.
An enormous battery called a megapack can be used to stabilise energy grids and stop power outages.
Tesla currently operates a Megapack facility in California, where 10,000 of the vehicles are made annually.
Construction is expected to start in the third quarter of this year, and manufacturing will start at the plant in the second quarter of 2024.
Shortly after France’s Airbus SE revealed plans to expand its production capacity in the nation for one of its best-selling jets, Tesla announced plans to increase its investment in China.
According to an agreement signed on Thursday in Beijing by CEO Guillaume Faury, the European aircraft manufacturer would expand its current production in Tianjin to add a second final assembly line for A320 narrow-bodies.
Each Megapack device, according to the manufacturer, can store enough energy to power an average of 3,600 houses for one hour.
It is designed to act as a gigantic battery to help stabilise electricity grids.
The new plant will first crank out 10,000 Megapacks annually, or roughly 40GWh of energy storage, and sell the goods all over the world.
China, where BYD, a rising star in the world of electric vehicles, is based, is a crucial market for Tesla. Even with production being hampered by China’s now-abandoned Covid Zero policy.
Its current auto factory on the outskirts of Shanghai, which the US company owns completely, produced about 711,000 cars last year, or 52% of its worldwide output.
However, Musk’s time working in China hasn’t always been easy. People with knowledge of the situation claimed earlier this year, days after irritate Tesla owners flocked to showrooms in China to gripe about missing out on yet another round of price reductions.
That an expansion of the Shanghai EV plant was delayed due to data concerns about Tesla’s connections to Musk’s internet-from-space initiative Starlink.
Early in 2021, Tesla automobiles were also prohibited from Chinese housing compounds and military installations due to worries that the cars’ cameras would be used to acquire private information.
In January, Musk said that China’s auto sector was the most competitive. Similar remarks were also expressed by him in a September 2021 online forum.
