Gary Zhou 
Tesla Giga Shanghai has officially exceeded the Fremont Factory’s output, according to Elon Musk’s calculations. As Tesla’s main export hub, Giga Shanghai’s output will play a significant role in the company’s global growth.
“We have three new factories. Giga Shanghai has done an incredible job. And Giga Shanghai now exceeds Fremont in production,” Musk announced at the 2021 Annual Shareholders Meeting.
Musk pointed out that Tesla Giga Shanghai took roughly 11 months to build and reached full volume production a year later. Since Giga Shanghai started operations, Tesla’s production and delivery numbers have noticeably increased.
In Q1 2020, Tesla reported producing 102,672 vehicles and delivered 88,400. By Q4 2020, Tesla production numbers went up to 179,757. Tesla deliveries increased as well to 180,570 in the fourth quarter that same year.
Tesla’s recent production numbers for Q3 2021 showed a significant increase in production and deliveries. Tesla reported producing 237,823 vehicles and delivering 241,300 units in the third quarter.
In early January 2020, Giga Shanghai had a run rate of 3,000 vehicles a week. At the beginning of 2021, Giga Shanghai reached a production capacity of 8,000 per week. As of early September, Giga Shanghai has a reported annualized production run rate of 450,000.
“Actually, I’d just like to give a special hand to the Tesla China team,” Elon Musk said, taking a moment to clap for them himself. “So it’s the best quality, lowest cost, and also low drama. So it’s great,” Musk commented.
Musk’s mention of little drama might be a reference to Tesla China’s “brake failure” protest incident, which sparked a sort of trend that could have damaged the EV automaker’s reputation. However, the Tesla China team took swift legal actions against individuals who sparked the brake failure allegations and others who supported it with false anecdotes.
Recently, Tesla China filed a lawsuit against the brake failure protester who climbed on top of a Model 3 display unit in April at the Shanghai Auto Show. Tesla China is suing the protester, Zhang Yazhou, for defamation and demands an apology along with retribution of RMB 5 million (~$700,000) for damages to the company. Tesla China also demanded public apologies from social media influencers and Chinese media outlets who admitted to fabricating stories about brake failures in Tesla vehicles.
Check out a recent video of Giga Shanghai below!
