Tesla confirms plans to to build a Gigafactory in Shanghai, capable of producing 500,000...

[Polycount]

Yesterday, we reported that Tesla was forced to raise their car prices by 20 percent in China to compensate for the country's hefty import tariffs. These tariffs were implemented as a result of China's ongoing trade war with the US.

However, we speculated that Tesla might consider building a factory in China to scale up production and avoid the tariffs entirely. It seems that is precisely what the company plans to do, according to Bloomberg.

Tesla has signed an agreement to develop another Gigafactory, this time in Shanghai. Initially, of course, the factory's production capacity will be limited, but Tesla hopes the factory will eventually be capable of producing 500,000 vehicles per year.

Bloomberg says it could take Tesla anywhere from two to three years -- on top of a two-year construction period -- to reach that goal.

In a statement to Engadget, a Tesla spokesperson officially confirmed the news.

"Today, we have signed a Cooperative Agreement for Tesla to start building Gigafactory 3, a new electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Shanghai," the individual said. "...it will take roughly two years until we start producing vehicles and then another two to three years before the factory is fully ramped up to produce around 500,000 vehicles per year for Chinese customers."

Tesla also claims their ambitious overseas goals will have no impact on their US-based operations. If true, that will likely come as a relief to the company's domestic customers and investors, since Tesla has only just managed to produce 5,000 vehicles per week in their US factories.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/75441-tesla-confirms-plans-build-gigafactory-shanghai-capable-producing.html

 

[captaincranky]

Quote by @Polycount "If true, that will likely come as a relief to the company's domestic customers and investors, since Tesla has only just managed to produce 5,000 vehicles per week in their US factories".

And 20% of that number were built in a big tent. Like P.T. Barnum, apparently Musk does some of his best work, "under the big top".

 

[psycros]

China was ALREADY tarriffing the hell out of ALL imported vehicles by an average of 20%. Does everyone just take whatever the talking heads on TV say at face value?

 

[captaincranky]

@psycros Nowhere is this more evident than in the price of Harley-Davidson motorcycles the world over.

The rice rockets cost about the same price as they do in the US, but the price of Harleys at least doubles when you try to buy one outside the US.

(I'm not going to try and fact check that, you can if you've got the time and the temperament)..(y).

 

[psycros]

@psycros Nowhere is this more evident than in the price of Harley-Davidson motorcycles the world over.

The rice rockets cost about the same price as they do in the US, but the price of Harleys at least doubles when you try to buy one outside the US.

(I'm not going to try and fact check that, you can if you've got the time and the temperament)..(y).

Already knew about it. Its not quite as bad in Europe but it still puts the lie to the whole "free trade" fantasy. Its amazing how well the state-controlled media can hide the fact that most of the world is very nationalist, pulling back the curtain only when its convenient to let people remember. The ruling class has sold America down the river..the rich pay hardly any taxes while the middle class vanishes into history. Not so many decades ago the national creed was to make sure everyone could do well enough to afford all of life's necessities and be able to put away something for their old age. Thanks to generations of leftist indoctrination and capitalism run amok our kids now think that being unemployed at 30 is normal and that someone owes them a living. The Republicans whine about how most of our budget goes to entitlements after they did nothing to protect the US standard of living for 40 years. Then they laugh all the way to their next board meeting where they clink glasses with their counterparts from the other DC gangster family. Trump may be a boorish, almost comically inelegant leader but he's probably last real patriot in Washington, DC. I think he knows that the longer we put off the pain of rebalancing the global economy and reclaiming our pride the worse it will hurt when we do. I think some of his advisors also realize that if we wait too long it will be armies and torch-bearing mobs who decide what comes next.

 

[TomSEA]

500k vehicles per year, eh? Well - that will get every man, woman and child in China a brand new Tesla in less than 3 years, and the same for the rest of the world in a little over 10 years.

They're going to have to find something else to do with the factory after that.

 

[captaincranky]

500k vehicles per year, eh? Well - that will get every man, woman and child in China a brand new Tesla in less than 3 years, and the same for the rest of the world in a little over 10 years.

They're going to have to find something else to do with the factory after that.

Dude, is that "the new math"? There are somewhere near 3 billion people in China.

You might try dividing 3,000 by .5, then adding the place holding zeros back in. The answer is 6,000 years!

(Unless of course, you were being intentionally sarcastic. I can't tell from here).

 

[TomSEA]

500k vehicles per year, eh? Well - that will get every man, woman and child in China a brand new Tesla in less than 3 years, and the same for the rest of the world in a little over 10 years.

They're going to have to find something else to do with the factory after that.

Dude, is that "the new math"? There are somewhere near 3 billion people in China.

You might try dividing 3,000 by .5, then adding the place holding zeros back in. The answer is 6,000 years!

(Unless of course, you were being intentionally sarcastic. I can't tell from here).

Simple Google search. 2018 - 1.4 billion people in China, 7.6 billion worldwide.

 

[oldikes]

500k vehicles per year, eh? Well - that will get every man, woman and child in China a brand new Tesla in less than 3 years, and the same for the rest of the world in a little over 10 years.

They're going to have to find something else to do with the factory after that.

can't tell if serious

 

[TomSEA]

500k vehicles per year, eh? Well - that will get every man, woman and child in China a brand new Tesla in less than 3 years, and the same for the rest of the world in a little over 10 years.

They're going to have to find something else to do with the factory after that.

can't tell if serious

No, of course I'm not serious. The thing I can't take serious is the 500k per year vehicle manufacturing claim. That's why my pun post.

 

[captaincranky]

No, of course I'm not serious. The thing I can't take serious is the 500k per year vehicle manufacturing claim. That's why my pun post.

Tesla is a money pit here in the US, and Musk is just looking to start bilking Chinese investors out of their money, the same way he does investors here in the US.

And of course, it's under the pretense of, "doing China a favor"....

Simple Google search. 2018 - 1.4 billion people in China, 7.6 billion worldwide.

Although I'm not disputing it, that seems awfully low. Hell, there more than a billion in India, though most may have emigrated to tech jobs in the US

But if true, @ 1.6 billion people in China, is still 3200 years @ 500,000 cars a year.

But just think how many deposits Muck can suck up from that kind of population base!

That said, Musk's message is quite clear; "if I can't bilk American investors out of their money anymore, I'm taking my ball and going to China to defraud the Chinese".

 

[Lionvibez]

Isn't building a factory there mean "Sharing your IP" with China.

 

[captaincranky]

Isn't building a factory there mean "Sharing your IP" with China.

Hopefully, China will block that d*** from Twitter as long as he's in country. After all, everyone here knows that Musk is too upstanding to use a VPN>

OK kidz, lets do the cheer, "Musk, Musk, he's our man, if he can't do it, no one can"

 

[Uncle Al]

You know, each and EVERY company that has done business with China inside of China has lost in a BIG way. China has more than a few ways to steal the technology then build a competing facility that undersells by a factor of 10x. It's not a phenomenon it's' just China doing business as usual. Even Musk should be smart enough to realize that ..... then again ........

 

[wiyosaya]

@psycros Nowhere is this more evident than in the price of Harley-Davidson motorcycles the world over.

The rice rockets cost about the same price as they do in the US, but the price of Harleys at least doubles when you try to buy one outside the US.

(I'm not going to try and fact check that, you can if you've got the time and the temperament)..(y).

Already knew about it. Its not quite as bad in Europe but it still puts the lie to the whole "free trade" fantasy. Its amazing how well the state-controlled media can hide the fact that most of the world is very nationalist, pulling back the curtain only when its convenient to let people remember. The ruling class has sold America down the river..the rich pay hardly any taxes while the middle class vanishes into history. Not so many decades ago the national creed was to make sure everyone could do well enough to afford all of life's necessities and be able to put away something for their old age. Thanks to generations of leftist indoctrination and capitalism run amok our kids now think that being unemployed at 30 is normal and that someone owes them a living. The Republicans whine about how most of our budget goes to entitlements after they did nothing to protect the US standard of living for 40 years. Then they laugh all the way to their next board meeting where they clink glasses with their counterparts from the other DC gangster family. Trump may be a boorish, almost comically inelegant leader but he's probably last real patriot in Washington, DC. I think he knows that the longer we put off the pain of rebalancing the global economy and reclaiming our pride the worse it will hurt when we do. I think some of his advisors also realize that if we wait too long it will be armies and torch-bearing mobs who decide what comes next.

Excellent post, IMO.

The way that I see it, the tariffs may well be seen by history as WWIII.

I do not think the US has lost its pride, and it still holds technical prowess over the rest of the world, however, I do see that trade needs to be balanced, but I do not think these tariffs are the way to go. To me, they are attempts to bully by anyone resorting to them. Who is going to pay them? Consumers the world over and the spoils of those tariffs are going into the coffers of the governments. In essence, another tax on people who cannot afford it.

Perhaps what the trade imbalance is indicating is that the global economic systems are failing. As I see it, the world needs to find a better economic strategy, and in my eyes, that gets to your statement

Not so many decades ago the national creed was to make sure everyone could do well enough to afford all of life's necessities and be able to put away something for their old age.

As I see it, this reflects an attitude of caring about other human beings. To me, the essence of your statement needs to become the world-wide economic standard, and the world needs to find a way back from the tyranny of the modern motto - "those who have the most toys win."