Tesla gears up for Model Y production in China

Tesla has started production of the Model Y in Shanghai. A drone video shows around 40 units of the Model Y in a parking lot of the plant. Elon Musk indirectly confirmed the start of production on Twitter and wrote that he plans to travel to Shanghai in January, possibly for delivery launch.

Until now, it was always said that the production of the Model Y in Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai should start in early 2021. The Californian carmaker registered the model with the Chinese Ministry of Industry at the beginning of November, after which the authority granted Tesla sales approval. On Twitter, there were already indications almost three weeks ago that pre-series production of the Model Y has now started.

Tesla had announced the Model Y program in China in January 2020 as part of the first customer delivery of the Model 3 in China. After that, it took a few more weeks for construction work to start on the Phase 2 expansion of the Gigafactory there. Back in September, there were reports that construction could be completed in October or November. It was also revealed that Tesla plans to build 550,000 electric cars at the plant in 2021: 300,000 Model 3s on the existing line and 250,000 units of the electric SUV in the just-completed section of the factory.

The sale of these Model Ys in China are likely to be helped by another promotion: Like the Model 3, the locally produced Model Y will receive an exemption from the ten per cent sales tax. Some of the Model Ys are also likely to be exported.

Meanwhile, a new rumour says that Tesla may be close to producing battery packs for the Model 3 and Model Y that use recycled materials. The recycled material is said to be scrap from production in Nevada.

teslarati.com, twitter.com, teslarati.com, teslarati.com (recycling material)