Tesla buys land for Shanghai battery factory, to make 10K units anually

By Linda Lew

Tesla Inc. has acquired land to build its Shanghai Megapack factory that will have capacity to produce 10,000 battery packs a year, according to a company representative, paving the way for construction to begin.

The US electric vehicle maker, which also runs other projects like energy storage and super computers, plans to break ground at the site in the first quarter of 2024, with production starting in the fourth quarter, Tesla said in a statement on Friday.

The construction timeline is similar to that of the nearby Tesla EV factory, which was built in the 12 months of 2019. The first cars rolled off the production line at the end of December that year.

The Shanghai location is Tesla’s second dedicated Megapack factory, following the Lathrop plant in California. Its EV facility in Nevada can also make the Megapack.

The Megapack to be made in Shanghai can store over 3.9 MWh of energy, equivalent to the power used in one hour by 3,600 households. Tesla’s energy generation business is a fast growing revenue stream. The unit recorded $1.6 billion in revenue in the third quarter, up 40%, driven by sales of the Megapack, according to company reports.