Tesla is planning to build a new factory to produce Supercharger V3 stations in China as it rapidly expands its charging network.
Originally, Tesla was producing its Supercharger stations in Fremont, California.
With the launch of the Supercharger V3 last year, the automaker moved production to Gigafactory New York, where it also produces its solar roof tiles.
The move enabled Tesla to increase production as it expands the network with the more powerful Supercharger V3 stations.
In 2020, Tesla accelerated deployment and recently installed its 20,000th charger in the Supercharger network.
Now we learn that Tesla is also planning to build a factory to produce Supercharger stations in China [via Reuters]:
Tesla, which now sells its Model 3 electric cars in China and plans to deliver its Model Y sport utility vehicles in 2021, plans to invest 42 million yuan ($6.4 million) in a new factory to make the chargers, also known as charging piles, near its car plant in Shanghai, the document seen by Reuters said.
The new factory is reportedly going to be located near Gigafactory Shanghai and it is going to be able to produce up to 10,000 charging stalls per year.
Reports from China suggest that the charging stations are Superchargers. There’s no word if they also plan to produce Wall Connectors.
Tesla’s new plant could go in operation as soon as February 2021.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla’s production capacity at Gigafactory Shanghai has been expanding faster than anticipated and demand has been good despite the pandemic — resulting in a rapid expansion of Tesla’s fleet.
The bigger fleet in China requires more service infrastructure and the automaker has been adding new service centers and charging stations as fast as it can.
This new factory is in line with Tesla’s strategy to locate production capacity closer to the demand in order to reduce logistic costs.
It would support an expansion of Tesla’s charging infrastructure in China and possibly other markets.
Since Tesla has now started exporting cars made in China to other markets, I wouldn’t be surprised if they do the same with the charging stations, especially if we are talking about a capacity of 10,000 chargers per year.
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