Tesla secures US$140.6 million plot of land for its Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai
860,000 square metre plot in Lingang to help US firm dodge China tariffs
Tesla on Wednesday secured a 860,000 square metre piece of land in Shanghai, in another step towards building its first plant outside the United States.
The California-based company agreed to pay 973 million yuan (US$140.6 million) for the land in Lingang, near Shanghai’s free-trade zone, according to the Shanghai Bureau of Planning and Land Resources.
The company’s planned Gigafactory 3 has been designed to have a capacity of 500,000 vehicles.
The signing of the agreement for the land comes three months after Tesla announced it would establish a factory in Shanghai with an investment of US$5 billion. Its chief executive, Elon Musk, said in August Tesla expected to invest US$2 billion initially to produce 250,000 electric cars at the Shanghai-based plant, which is likely to be operational in two years.
“Securing this site in Shanghai, Tesla’s first Gigafactory outside the United States, is an important milestone for what will be our next advanced, sustainably developed manufacturing site,” said Robin Ren, Tesla’s vice-president of worldwide sales.
Securing this site in Shanghai, Tesla’s first Gigafactory outside the United States, is an important milestone
The company said it was accelerating the construction of the factory, and expected it to be capital-efficient with a rapid build out after learning “many lessons” from the launch of its Model 3 in North America.