Tesla to build Shanghai factory to make Megapack batteries – Xinhua

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Tesla Inc will build a factory in Shanghai to make the Megapack energy storage product, Chinese state media outlet Xinhua reported on Sunday.

Elon Musk’s automaker will break ground on the plant in the third quarter and start production in the second quarter of 2024, Xinhua reported from a signing ceremony in Shanghai.

Complementing a huge existing Shanghai plant making electric vehicles, the new factory will initially produce 10,000 Megapack units a year, equal to around 40 gigawatt hours of energy storage, to be sold globally, Xinhua said.

Megapacks are Tesla (NASDAQ:)’s lithium-ion batteries, used for battery-storage power stations.

Tesla generates most of its money from its electric car business, but Musk has committed to grow its solar energy and battery business to roughly the same size.

Tesla has a factory producing Megapacks in Lathrop, California, capable of manufacturing 10,000 Megapacks per year.

The company began producing Model 3 cars in Shanghai in 2019 and now is capable of producing 22,000 units of cars per week.