Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory is located in the city’s Lingang Industrial Area. [Photo/China Daily]
Few seem to realize China is leading the world in renewable energy generation and electric vehicles, Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO said via Twitter on Monday, adding, “Whatever you may think of China, this is simply a fact,” reported Guancha.cn.
In the next several hours, he posted the same statement in Chinese on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media. Previously, Musk released a top 15 ranking of wind power installation worldwide, showing China crowned the list by a capacity of 328,973 megawatts, followed by the United States with 132,738.
Tesla’s “Gigafactory” in Shanghai produced 484,000 automobiles in 2021, accounting for 51.7 percent of total deliveries last year. According to Tesla’s website on May 3, the output of Giga Shanghai was 20 percent higher than that of Fremont. Tesla said it plans to expand the factory in Shanghai to make it “the world’s largest auto export center” and to meet demand from Europe.
Musk said Giga Shanghai has resumed its production capacity at a high level and is expected to produce 1.5 million autos this year, up at least 50 percent from 2021.
Tesla’s 2022 environmental evaluation shows the carmaker plans to expand its workforce at Giga Shanghai by growing a “new model” line, bringing the total employees at the factory to around 19,000.