Tesla delivers impressive output from Gigafactory Shanghai in March despite factory shutdown

Tesla has managed to deliver over 65,000 vehicles produced at Gigafactory Shanghai in March, an impressive output representing 100% year-over-year growth, despite the factory shutdown.

The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) announced today results for car registration in China in March.

They confirmed that Tesla China had an output of 65,814 vehicles with only 60 of them for exports.

That’s generally the case for the last month of the quarter as Tesla focuses on local deliveries.

It represents a 16% month-to-month increase compared to the 56,515-vehicle output in February, but the results are particularly impressive compared to the same period last year when Gigafactory Shanghai had half the output.

The results are even more impressive when you take into account that Tesla had not one but two factory shutdowns in March due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The factory had to shut down for two days in mid-March and again at the end of the month.

However, most of the impact is expected to be felt in April since the last factory shutdown has been extended to this week.

Based on the CPCA data, it means that 190,446 Tesla vehicles came from China during the first quarter – more than half of the 310,000 vehicles it delivered last quarter.

It shows just how important Gigafactory Shanghai has become for the automaker as it now surpasses Fremont factory in output and it has become its main export hub.

Gigafactory Berlin is expected to help Tesla rely less on Shanghai and supply the European market with Model Y vehicles.

However, the factory is believed to currently rely heavily on supply from Gigafactory Shanghai and it will take months before it can ramp up production to significant volumes.

Nonetheless, Tesla’s second quarter could be a really interesting one with the first production from Gigafactory Berlin and Texas counting toward Tesla’s global deliveries.