Tesla plans to build megafactory in Shanghai

It will be dedicated to manufacturing the company’s energy storage product Megapack

Tesla Model 3 vehicles at a factory in Shanghai. Tesla produces its vehicles in California, Texas, Shanghai and Berlin. Reuters

Tesla, the world’s biggest electric vehicle manufacturer, will build a new megafactory in Shanghai as it looks to cater to growing demand for battery production.

The factory will be dedicated to manufacturing the company’s energy storage product Megapack, the company said on Twitter on Sunday.

It will complement a huge existing Shanghai plant making electric vehicles.

Tesla is scheduled to break ground on the plant in the third quarter of this year and start production in the second quarter of 2024, according to a report by Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

The new factory will initially produce 10,000 Megapack units every year, equal to about 40 gigawatt hours of energy storage.

The products will be sold worldwide, the Xinhua report said.

Investment details about the project were not disclosed.

Megapack is a powerful battery that provides energy storage and support, helping to stabilise the grid and prevent power cuts, according to Tesla's website.

Each unit can store more than 3 megawatt hours of energy — that’s enough energy to power an average of 3,600 homes for one hour.

Tesla currently produces its vehicles in Fremont, California; Austin, Texas; Shanghai, China; and Berlin, Germany.

Last month, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Tesla would build a new plant in the city of Monterrey.

The Nasdaq-listed company has also invested $3.6 billion to produce its “first high-volume Semi [heavy-duty truck] factory” in Reno, Nevada.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo said his administration has also been in talks with Tesla about a factory.

Tesla founder and chief executive Elon Musk has set a goal of selling 20 million electric vehicles annually by 2030.

The Texas-headquartered company set a record for annual deliveries as it shipped 1.31 million cars last year, up more than 40 per cent year-on-year.

Tesla gigafactory in Germany — in pictures

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk speaks during the opening day of the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, Germany. EPA

Musk speaks next to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the prime minister of Brandenburg state, Dietmar Woidke, during the opening ceremony. AFP

The Tesla chief, right, was cheered as he oversaw the handover of the car maker's first German-made cars at the Gruenheide plant. EPA

Musk described the opening as "another step in the direction of a sustainable future". EPA

Tesla is likely to launch a test version of its new "full self-driving" software in Europe, possibly next year, the chief executive said. EPA

Musk dances as he hands over the first Teslas from the new factory. Getty Images

Musk said battery production will be a "challenge" next year and a "limiting factor" in the coming years. Reuters

Tesla cars are parked at the site of the new Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, Germany. Reuters

Tesla was handing over the first Model Y cars made at its €5 billion Gruenheide plant to clients on March 22, the company said. Getty Images

The new Tesla Gigafactory is the company's first European production centre. Getty Images

Newly completed Tesla Model Y electric cars parked at the site near Gruenheide. Getty Images

The new factory is the largest investment in a German car factory in recent history. Getty Images

A road sign reading 'water protection area' next to the Tesla logo at the site of the Tesla factory. EPA

A road sign reading 'Tesla Street' at the new plant. EPA

A building under construction at the Tesla factory. EPA

At full capacity, the factory will produce 500,000 cars annually. EPA

Tesla plans to hire 12,000 workers at the plant. Bloomberg

Deliveries for the three-month period ended on December 31 were up by about a third to 405,278, from 308,600 a year earlier, and about 18 per cent higher from 180,570 in the third quarter.

Tesla aims to produce about 1.8 million cars, marking a growth rate of more than 50 per cent this year.

The world's top car makers are planning to spend nearly $1.2 trillion through 2030 to develop and produce millions of electric vehicles, along with the batteries and raw materials to support that production, according to a Reuters analysis of public data and projections released by those companies last October.

Car makers have forecast plans to build 54 million battery electric vehicles by 2030, representing more than 50 per cent of total vehicle production, according to the analysis.

To support that unprecedented level of EVs, car makers and their battery partners are planning to install 5.8 terawatt-hours of battery production capacity by 2030, according to data from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence and the manufacturers.

Tesla has a factory in Lathrop, California, capable of manufacturing 10,000 Megapack units per year, Reuters reported.