V3 superchargers roll off Tesla’s charging pole plant in Shanghai
US electric carmaker Tesla said its charging poles plant in Shanghai is now in operation, with V3 superchargers rolling off the production line yesterday.
With an investment of 42 million yuan (US$6.5 million), Tesla’s factory focuses on the production, and research and development of charging poles. It took less than six months from the beginning of the project in August last year to official production, the automaker said.
“It reflects the speed and strong capability of Shanghai manufacturing,” Tesla said.
The initial planned annual production capacity of the plant, which covers an area of around 5,000 square meters, is 10,000 super charging poles, mainly its V3 superchargers — Tesla’s most advanced charging pole equipment — which give users a range of 250 kilometers after a 15-minute charge.
Previously, Tesla’s superchargers were imported from the United States.
The local production of super charging poles will accelerate their popularity and contribute to the development of the new infrastructure sector in China.
Tesla has more than 730 supercharging stations at present and its charging network has spread to more than 300 Chinese cities, the company said. Last year, more than 410 Tesla super-charging stations were built in China, including 180 Tesla V3 superchargers.
Tesla said it will further speed up the construction of its charging network this year. The automaker suggested it will spend more efforts in China through products and services to attract more consumers.
The automaker has released a series of cars, including the Model 3, Model Y, Model S and Model X, since it officially entered the Chinese market in 2013.
In July 2018, Tesla broke ground on its mammoth Shanghai factory, becoming the first company to benefit from a government policy allowing foreign carmakers to set up wholly owned subsidiaries in China.
Cars began rolling off the US$2-billion plant assembly line in just 357 days, a record for global automakers in China.
The company said its Shanghai factory has a current capacity of 450,000 Model 3 and Model Y cars a year.
The Gigafactory Shanghai has demonstrated the ability to sustain Model 3 production at or above a run rate of 250,000 per year, Tesla revealed.