Tesla has officially started the construction of its highly anticipated Shanghai Megafactory on May 23, 2024. The Shanghai Megafactory represents the electric vehicle maker’s first dedicated energy storage facility outside the United States.
The Shanghai Megafactory, which will produce Megapack batteries, will join Giga Shanghai as Tesla China’s main production facilities in the country. As noted in a report, the upcoming Megapack factory is situated in the Lingang area, close to Gigafactory Shanghai.
The Shanghai Megafactory complex covers about 200,000 square meters (49.4 acres). The Shanghai Megafactory also stands as the newest high-profile investment from the electric vehicle maker in the ten years since the company entered the Chinese market.
The Shanghai Megafactory is expected to have an annual capacity of 10,000 Megapack batteries, which translate to about 40 GWh worth of energy storage. Such a number of Megapack batteries could power 50,000 Shanghai homes for a year, Zhu noted.
The executive also stated that the Shanghai Megafactory is expected to start its production of Megapack batteries in the first quarter of 2025, less than a year from today. The buildout of the Shanghai Megafactory saw some slight delays.
Initial estimates suggested that construction would begin in Q3 2023 and Megapack production could start in Q2 2024. Sure enough, Shanghai authorities officially granted the project a construction permit on May 16, paving the way for the launch of the facility’s buildout.