Tesla is going to shut down parts of its mega factory Giga Shanghai, this weekend. The production lines of Giga Shanghai will be closed for upgrading the manufacturing plant that will roll out the upcoming Tesla Model 3 Refresh.
According to Bloomberg, people familiar with the matter said that the plant has two phases for vehicle manufacturing, and some workers on the first phase won’t be allowed on production lines from as soon as Sunday, as the work on improving them is undertaken. The factory upgrades will take almost a month to complete and will directly affect the production and assembly of the new Model 3 which is expected to launch soon in China.
Last month Tesla failed to get approval for expanding its Giga Shanghai factory from Chinese authorities. Though the Chinese government did not give an official reason for withholding the license, experts suggested that the delay was due to Beijing’s concerns over data security, related to Starlink. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is also the head of the internet-from-space initiative Starlink, and government authorities are worried about security issues relating to the satellite internet project.
Giga Shanghai and Model 3 Refresh
Giga Shanghai also known as Gigafactory 3 is Tesla’s first overseas factory located in Shanghai, China. Established in 2018, it is one of the five Gigafactories owned by Tesla. The factory specializes in assembling both Model 3 a compact Sedan and Model Y a crossover.
The Tesla Model 3 Refresh is a soon-to-be-launched, upgraded version of the Model 3. It is an important project for the company, as Tesla aims to make a comeback in China using the Model 3 Refresh.
Code-named project ‘Highland’, the Model 3 Refresh will use Teslas’ largest casting technology. This new technology helps the company to increase its manufacturing efficiency and has already been used on Tesla Model Y. The company remains tight-lipped about the exact upgrades for the refresh model. Still, images of the camouflaged test drives in California show that the new model will have a significant facelift. The new model is expected to come with Tesla’s Hardware 4.0 and weigh less than its predecessor.
Tesla the pioneer and global leader in Electric Vehicles was once the number one EV seller in China. But last year, it was overthrown by Chinese EV maker BYD. BYD the Shenzen-based car maker sold a record number of EVs in 2022 and dethroned Tesla as the number one EV seller in the world.
Tesla faces stiff competition from companies like BYD and Nio Inc. which are dominating the Chinese market. To outpace the competition, the company is now pushing for the launch of the Model 3 Refresh and rushing to upgrade its facilities.
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