Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory had a capacity of nearly 500,000 units last year and plans to hit the target of 1.5 million this year

On January 11, China's automobile sales data released by the Association showed that Tesla sales reached 70,847 units in December last year, exceeding 50,000 monthly sales for the fourth consecutive month. In the whole of 2021, the Shanghai Gigafactory delivered 484,130 vehicles, accounting for 51.7% of Tesla's global deliveries of 936,000 last year.

Based on the target of an average annual growth rate of 50%, Tesla's deliveries in 2022 will be around 1.4 million units, and the capital markets are further expected to increase to 1.5 million units or more. Therefore, in addition to the two original factories in California and Shanghai, the start of the Berlin and Texas factories will become an important chip to boost Tesla's production capacity growth.

The annual production capacity of the Shanghai Gigafactory has doubled year after year

In early January, Tesla announced last year's delivery results, the company's global sales exceeded the 900,000 mark for the first time, reaching 936,000, of which the fourth quarter delivery volume was 313,000 units, an increase from 240,000 units in the third quarter, and it was also the first time tesla achieved quarterly sales of 300,000.

According to the data released by the Association on January 11, the Shanghai Gigafactory contributed half of the country last year. For the whole of last year, the shanghai gigafactory had nearly 500,000 deliveries, which is almost the annual delivery volume of Tesla in 2020.

In the past 2021, Shanghai Gigafactory is Tesla's most stable production base, and its production capacity even exceeds that of the California factory in the second half of the year. At the shareholders' meeting in October last year, Musk disclosed that the production capacity of the Shanghai Gigafactory surpassed that of the Fremont, California plant, becoming Tesla's highest-capacity factory in the world.

After becoming the most productive gigafactory, Tesla China did not stop there, and the Shanghai factory is expected to continue to expand production capacity towards the level of millions of annual output. In December last year, Tesla announced the EIA of the second phase of the Shanghai Gigafactory (Phase I) production line optimization project, and the EIA report said that the total investment in the production line optimization project was as high as 1.2 billion yuan, and the project would increase production capacity by increasing working hours, increasing the number of employees, and increasing the frequency of material turnover.

Recently, there is supply chain news that the production capacity of the Shanghai factory will be further increased in March this year, with a monthly output of 25,000 Model 3 and 50,000 Model Y, and the annual production capacity has increased to 900,000 vehicles, almost twice the current existing production capacity, but Tesla China has not confirmed this news.

The Berlin and Texas plants are about to start operations

Deliveries are expected to hit 1.5 million units this year

In addition to the substantial growth of the Shanghai factory, Tesla's new factories in Berlin and Texas are also expected to contribute to this year's deliveries.

Musk originally expected that the two new factories in Berlin and Texas could be put into operation at the end of 2021, but in fact, the two factories have not yet been officially put into operation, of which the Berlin plant is subject to environmental protection issues, and the start of production has been delayed since July last year, but the good news is that Tesla has submitted the documents required for the approval process of the Berlin factory at the end of last year, and the time point of official operation has gradually approached.

The Berlin factory is of great significance to Tesla, which is Tesla's second overseas factory outside the United States after the Shanghai factory, and the Model Y produced by the factory will be mainly responsible for the delivery of the European region, which is expected to reduce the transportation costs of exports from the Shanghai factory to the European market.

In addition, the capacity planning of the Berlin plant is not inferior to that of the California and Shanghai factories, Tesla's expectation is that the Berlin plant will reach a level of about 5,000 vehicles per week in the short term after the start of production, and the production capacity will reach 10,000 units after the smooth climb, which means that the Berlin plant is expected to contribute 500,000 vehicles to Tesla's annualized production capacity in the long term.

The Texas plant is also expected to start up in the near future, and Musk revealed that the company will hold an opening party for the Texas factory early this year. Daniel Ives, an analyst at investment bank Wade Bush, said on Jan. 10 that the Berlin plant is likely to start producing the Model Y in the next 7 to 10 days, "believing that the model Y's stamping machine and testing work are in place." ”

Compared with other factories, the Texas factory is not only Tesla's new headquarters, but also the production site of the new model of electric pickup truck Cyberterruck, but due to the shortage of components such as in-vehicle chips, Tesla will slow down the delivery progress of Cyberruck and meet the delivery demand of Model Y first.

Tesla vehicle market share in factories in different regions

New Street Research's research report notes that tesla can easily deliver 1.5 million units in 2022 with the help of factories in Berlin and Texas, up 60 percent year-on-year. Tesla will plan to announce its full-year 2021 results on January 26, when Musk may announce more information.

Beijing News shell financial reporter Lin Zi Editor Fang Jingyi Proofreader Guo Li