Tesla has now officially broken ground at the Gigafactory 3 and CEO Elon Musk made a few interesting comments, including confirmation that Tesla will produce the upcoming new Model Y at the factory.
At the groundbreaking ceremony, Musk was his usual optimistic self when it came to boasting about Tesla’s manufacturing effort:
“This is going to be the most advanced Tesla Gigafactory in the world and arguably one of the most advanced factories in the world of any kind.”
But he mostly praised the local government for enabling a quick construction time.
Musk reiterated that low volume Model 3 production should start by the end of the year at Gigafactory 3:
“It’s really impressive the capabilities of Shanghai in building things. […] We think with the resources here we can build the Shanghai Gigafactory in record time and we’re looking forward to hopefully having some initial production of the Model 3 towards the end of this year and achieving volume production next year,”
The CEO also made a call for people to apply for jobs with Tesla China as they are seeking a lot of talent for many positions at Gigafactory 3.
Tesla built a little stage on the deserted plot of land for the event.
It was attended by many officials who are praising Tesla for establishing local manufacturing capacity in China.
Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, said:
“Tesla’s China production will have a ‘catfish effect’ in the country’s auto industry, pushing domestic carmakers to speed up their technological upgrading,”
Musk also made a few interesting comments ahead of the event.
He confirmed that Tesla plans to also build Model Y at the factory along with Model 3, but he also announced that only the “affordable versions of Model 3 and Model Y” will be built at the factory.
The CEO said that the higher cost versions of those vehicles, along with Model S and Model X, will still be built in the US and exported to China and other markets:
Shanghai Giga will produce affordable versions of 3/Y for greater China. All Model S/X & higher cost versions of Model 3/Y will still be built in US for WW market, incl China.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 7, 2019
Previously, it was believed that all Model 3 vehicles for the Chinese market would be built at Gigafactory 3.
Here’s Musk’s speech at the event:
And here’s what the Gigafactory 3 site looks like today as the company officially breaks ground:
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