Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai output holds incredible pace amid rumors of second factory

Tesla’s February numbers in China are out and it confirms that Gigafactory Shanghai is maintaining an incredible output of more than 600,000 electric vehicles per year.

With upcoming improvements, Tesla could soon push production to over 1 million units per year and possibly 2 million units with a rumored second factory in Shanghai.

The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) released its numbers early on Tuesday and showed that Tesla sold 56,515 domestically-made vehicles in China in February.

33,315 of those vehicles were exported to other markets.

Gigafactory Shanghai has become Tesla’s exportation hub, and early in the quarter – in this case, October and November – the automaker produces vehicles for international markets, especially Europe and Asia, and focuses on producing vehicles for the Chinese market later in the quarter.

Tesla’s total output in February is down month-to-month by about 5%, but that’s to be expected as the Chinese New Year generally affects performance through February.

Year-over-year, Tesla is up more than 200% in China.

At over 56,000 units, it shows that Tesla is holding to an annualized production rate of over 600,000 vehicles at Gigafactory Shanghai.

Tesla has previously talked about eventually achieving an output of 1 million vehicles at the factory.

But on top of that, a new report came out last week claiming that Tesla is starting work on a new factory adjacent to Gigafactory Shanghai in order to double production capacity to two million cars annually.

While still only a rumor, Tesla China hasn’t commented on the news despite shutting down other reports of upcoming new factories in China.

Demand for electric cars is skyrocketing in China and many other markets – resulting in a race to deploy EV production rather than focusing on sales.

In China, passenger vehicle sales rose 4.7% year-over-year in February to 1.27 million units, and electric vehicles, or new-energy vehicles (NEVs) as they call them in China, are responsible for the increase.

NEV deliveries increased by 180% to 272,000 units. Tesla’s 200% increase helped, but in terms of overall volume, BYD led with shipping 87,473 vehicles last month – though that number includes both hybrid and all-electric vehicles.