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Tesla’s Shanghai factory upgrade ‘boosts production by 30 per cent’ as the EV giant seeks to regain crown from China’s BYD
- The plant is now able to assemble 2,000 Model Y cars a day, some 30 per cent more than previously, according to suppliers
- The boost may help the American giant claw back lost ground from Chinese rival BYD, which swept past it this year
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Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory has finished upgrading production facilities for its popular Model Y car, enabling it to increase capacity by almost a third, according to people familiar with the matter.
The plant, based in Lingang free-trade zone, which is connected to the Yangshan Deep-Water Port by the 32km Donghai Bridge, is targeting an annual production capacity of more than 1 million units after the upgrades carried out this month.
Additional facilities at the factory, also known as Giga Shanghai, should help the US carmaker make up for ground it lost during a two-month citywide lockdown when its production volume fell by 70,000 units.
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The plant, already Tesla’s largest manufacturing base worldwide, is now able to assemble 2,000 Model Y sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) a day, about 30 per cent more than previously, according to several officials at its supply chain vendors, who did not wish to be identified.
It is also conducting an upgrade of the production line used to assemble Model 3 cars, due for completion on August 7.
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Tesla’s first overseas car plant nears completion in Shanghai, outdoing US-China trade war tariffs
Tesla’s first overseas car plant nears completion in Shanghai, outdoing US-China trade war tariffs
Daily output of the Model 3 is also expected to jump by more than 30 per cent, to about 1,200 units, when the upgrade work is complete.
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