Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 in China on track for May completion: Shanghai official

A Chinese government official has said that Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai is expected to be finished this coming May. Electric car assembly lines are also on track to be installed by the end of the year.

The Gigafactory upgrade was related by Shanghai official Chen Mingbo, who now serves as the head of town ’s economic and information technology commission, during the annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing on Wednesday. This timeframe is in line with Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s estimates for the project’s completion, which point to Gigafactory 3 producing its first Model 3 to the China facility before the year ends.

China is famous for quick buildouts, but even according to the country’s criteria, the timetable for Gigafactory 3 is incredibly ambitious. A full-fledged auto factory can take around two years to build in the nation, but as a result of the support that Tesla has been receiving from the Shanghai government, the project’s timeline appears to be feasible. These symptoms of support include initiatives that helped the company acquire low-interest loans from local banks for the facility’s construction, in addition to the involvement of a government-owned construction company in Gigafactory 3’s buildout.

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Gigafactory 3 represents an essential component of Tesla’s plan to saturate the auto industry. China is the world’s biggest market for electric cars, but the nation also puts heavy taxes on vehicles coming from manufacturers. Tesla’s Model S and Model X have been affected by these economic headwinds, as acknowledged by Tesla in its Q3 2018 manufacturing and deliveries report.

Producing vehicles at Gigafactory 3 will allow Tesla to compete without being weighed down by tariffs. This is key strategy for Tesla in China, as the upcoming facility is specifically tasked to make affordable versions of the Model 3 sedan and the Model Y SUV. Tesla has already managed to bring the purchase price of the Model 3 down to $35,000 in the United States. Thus, Tesla appears to be well on track to make its lower-cost vehicles in China at the end of the year.

Progress at Gigafactory 3’s 864,885-square meter site in the Lingang Industrial Zone has been notable. Footage and flyovers shot of the website in February stage to a flurry of building activity in the region. Pile drivers have been seen in sections of the website, suggesting that preparations are underway to start building the foundations of a structure. A modular structure also appeared to be in the process of being finished.

Watch a flyover of the Gigafactory 3 site in the movie below.

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