Tesla Working on a New Gigafactory? It’s Definitely Not in This Chinese City

Isabella James, Tech Times 04 November 2021, 11:11 am

Tesla finds itself at the center of rumors once more, and this time around, the rumors are about a second Gigafactory in China.

Rumors have been swirling that Elon Musk's company is planning on building a Gigafactory in the city of Qingdao. That, however, has been denied by Tesla.

Prior to the rumors of a Qingdao Gigafactory, it was also rumored that the fourth Gigafactory was going to be built in Russia. This was denied by Musk.

Tesla currently has three fully-functioning Gigafactories in Nevada, New York, and Shanghai. Other Gigafactories are currently in the middle of construction.

Tesla Denies Qingdao Gigafactory

Tesla has denied that the company is working on a Gigafactory in Qingdao, China, per a report by Electrek. Qingdao is a port city that is located in the country's Shandong province.

A statement has been released by the company's head of government affairs and PR in China, Grace Tao, which reads in part: "To everyone, the information on the site of Tesla's second factory on the internet is not true."

It was previously rumored that the new Gigafactory would be located in Russia. This, however, was denied by Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, in a tweet published on his personal Twitter account.

Giga Shanghai

Should Tesla decide to put up a new Gigafactory in China, it will be the second one in the Asian country as the company already has one in Shanghai.

The construction of Giga Shanghai, otherwise known as Gigafactory 3, first started in 2018 and was already nearing completion a year later. It currently serves as the final assembly location for the Tesla Model 3 as well as the Tesla Model Y.

Other Tesla Gigafactories

As of press time, there are a total of three Gigafactories that are already fully operational. Aside from Giga Shanghai, Tesla also has Giga Nevada and Giga New York.

Giga Nevada, which is also known as Gigafactory 1, is located in Storey County, Nevada. The grand opening of the Gigafactory was held in 2016.

Giga Nevada's main role is to supply the battery packs used in Tesla's electric vehicles (EVs). However, it does not supply battery packs used by EVs that are made in China.

Gigafactory 2, on the other hand, is otherwise known as Giga New York. The Tesla factory, whose construction began in 2014m is located in Buffalo, New York.

According to a separate article by Electrek, Giga New York "is focused on solar energy rather than EVs."

Other Gigafactories that are currently in the midst of construction are Giga Berlin and Giga Texas. It has been recently reported that Giga Berlin is experiencing construction delays.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Isabella James