Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong celebrated on Monday breaking ground of the Tesla’s first non-U.S. factory.
“China is becoming the global leader in electric vehicle adoption, and it is a market that is critical to Tesla’s mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy,” Musk said, in a company statement for the Shanghai factory.
Musk on Twitter said that the factory will produce “affordable versions” of Model 3 and Model Y vehicles for the Greater China region, and that the plan is to “finish initial construction this summer, start Model 3 production end of year & reach high volume production next year.”
According to the company, the so-called Gigafactory in Shanghai “will allow Tesla to localize production of Model 3 and future models sold in China, with plans to eventually produce approximately 3,000 Model 3 vehicles per week in the initial phase.
