from the gigas-coming-off-the-factory-line dept.
Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory made its 1 millionth car:
Plant closures and other challenges didn't keep Tesla's Chinese factory from crossing a key milestone. As Electrek notes, company chief Elon Musk has revealed that Gigafactory Shanghai recently produced its 1 millionth car. As mentioned earlier in August, Musk noted that Tesla has made a total of 3 million electric vehicles to date.
The facility has quickly become a cornerstone of Tesla's manufacturing strategy. It started production in late 2019, but ramped up to the point where it became the largest EV factory on the planet. Its annual production rate topped 800,000 by the end of 2021, making it crucial to Tesla's record-setting year. Gigafactory Shanghai is now the company's main export hub, delivering cars to Europe and other key markets in addition to China.
The Shanghai factory is gradually becoming just one piece in a larger puzzle. The newly opened Gigafactories in Berlin and Texas will drive at least some near-term growth, and Tesla is exploring the potential for factories in places like Canada.
(Score: 2) by Username on Wednesday August 17 2022, @04:09PM (3 children)
What ever happened with the CA factory? Is it still closed due to "covid?" Are they still wearing masks over there?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 17 2022, @05:22PM (1 child)
Musk told them to fuck off, and never shut down.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 17 2022, @06:10PM
There has been a steady stream of Wealthmobiles coming out of there while all of the other parking lots of compliant companies were empty.
(Score: 2) by legont on Thursday August 18 2022, @02:16AM
Musk simply left for Texas screw you style.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Thexalon on Wednesday August 17 2022, @04:38PM (3 children)
If it just hit 1 million cars, wouldn't that make it a "megafactory", not a "gigafactory"? At 800,000 cars per year, it would be roughly the year 3270 before it produced its billionth car, and I'm guessing market conditions will have changed by then.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 18 2022, @03:25AM (1 child)
IIRC, gigafactory was first applied to the battery plant near Las Vegas. Not sure if that was for a billion cells, or a billion of something else.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday August 18 2022, @11:41AM
I mean, it could be that, but I think it more likely that Elon's thought process was more along the lines of "This is huge, it's mega. Wait, it's bigger than mega, so let's call it giga!" It's roughly the same instinct as English-speakers wildly misusing the German preposition "über": It's not like the actual definition of words matters much anymore to a lot of people, because that requires actually knowing what the words mean instead of the feeling they're trying to convey.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday August 18 2022, @03:19PM
They've got at least two gigafactories from the sound of things so now it's like Dune timeframe!