Photo: @bentv_sh/Twitter

Sources familiar with the matter said Tesla Giga Shanghai's production capacity will exceed 1 million cars in the coming years. Although the installed capacity of the Chinese factory is indicated as >450,000 units in the company's report, the December 2021 figures point to much greater capabilities.

Tesla is constantly improving Giga Shanghai by optimizing and expanding its production capacity. The latest major expansion began at the end of 2021 and once completed, the factory is expected to significantly increase its installed production capacity to meet the ever-increasing demand from both local and overseas markets.

According to Tesla's Q4 and FY2021 report, Giga Shanghai had a production capacity of >450,000 units. Although the ">" symbol indicates that the capacity is more than 450,000 units, the company still did not provide a different figure. However, according to delivery data for December 2021–when Tesla delivered 70,847 Model 3 and Model Y—the factory should already have a production capacity of more than 834,000 units per year. So it can be assumed that in 2022 the manufacturer already could deliver more than 800,000 vehicles from its Chinese factory.

A new report from Chinese media outlet Cailian, citing sources familiar with the matter, shows that Tesla intends to increase Shanghai's Giga production capacity to more than 1 million units annually in the coming years. The Environmental Assessment Report, released on November 23 last year, reveals the manufacturer's plans to expand the plant. The company has invested up to RMB 1.2 billion (about $188 million) to expand Giga Shanghai's production facilities. According to figures obtained by the state-based newspaper Beijing Daily, this should provide an additional 4,000 jobs. Thus, the number of people who will work at the factory will increase to 19,000 people.

The project is expected to be completed by April 2022. As of now, Tesla is already actively hiring for various roles, and offers positions in 11 categories, including sales and delivery, service, research and development, manufacturing, and infrastructure and supply chain, offering a total of 1,523 positions.

According to Tesla's report, the production line optimization project will focus on the expansion of the press shop, body shop, paint shop, final assembly shop, and logistics operation center. This increase in jobs and expansion of the main workshops at the factory indicates a significant increase in the production capacity of Giga Shanghai.

Despite information from Cailian's source, many factors indicate that Giga Shanghai will end 2022 with a much higher installed production capacity than 1 million units. Firstly, the factory can already produce more than 834,000 units per year, which is before the new extension has taken effect. After the new production capacity is launched in April this year, it seems that Giga Shanghai will be able to reach or even exceed the installed capacity of 1 million units by the end of the year.

Secondly, at the end of November 2021, there were already rumors that a new expansion of the Chinese factory could lead to an installed capacity of 1-1.5 million units per year. @bentv_sh/Twitter (aka Wu Wa/YouTube), who follows updates on Giga Shanghai and often publishes accurate information about Tesla's plans in China, said the manufacturer has ambitious plans for 2022. According to an unnamed source, the manufacturer plans to increase production capacity to 1-1.5 million units this year, thanks to the new expansion.

© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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Article edited by @SmokeyShorts, you can follow him on Twitter

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