Tesla claims a 95% automated production at Gigafactory Shanghai

Tesla claims that it is now achieving “95% automated production” at Gigafactory Shanghai with recent updates.

While Elon Musk disbanded Tesla’s PR team in the US, the automaker still has press departments in other markets.

For example, the company’s Chinese PR team recently held a factory tour for reports at Gigafactory Shanghai.

In recent months, Tesla has made changes to the plant and there were reports that the automaker was throttling down the production at the factory.

Now, reports from Chinese reporters at the event say that Tesla is now claiming the factory is at full capacity – producing a Model Y every 30 seconds.

During the event, Tesla reportedly highlighted changes, like new vertical lifts cutting down the length of the production lines by 100 meters. The company also made the claim that Gigafactory Shanghai is now “95% automated” (via Gongfu Finance – translated from Chinese):

In Tesla’s assembly workshop, two production lines with similar processes are stacked vertically, and the doors, body and other parts on the production line are transported by vertical lifts, saving nearly 100 meters of production lines. The four workshops are connected, and the manufactured parts can be transported within the workshop. The dense number of robotic arms brings Tesla up to 95% fully automated production, and the automation rate of Tesla’s welding workshop is close to 100%.

It’s unclear how they came up with the percentage or if anything is lost in translation, but it could mean that 95% of the processes are automated.

Tao Lin, VP of Tesla China, reportedly commented at the meeting that “Tesla will continue to maintain the current production and is very confident in the Chinese market.” The VP also added that Megafactory, which plans to produce Megapacks in Shanghai, is going to enter production in 2025.

Electrek’s Take

This is not a great update on the plant, but Gigafactory Shanghai is Tesla’s most productive plant and produces more electric vehicles than any other, so we take every information we can get about it.

The registration numbers we are seeing for Tesla out of China are pretty good; however, with the new tariffs in Europe and potentially coming to Canada, it will likely make more Tesla vehicles available in the market as Tesla exports a significant portion of its Giga Shanghai production outside the country.

It will be interesting to see how Tesla handles this situation. So far, based on those comments, it doesn’t sound like they plan to lower production.