by Chen Xiaotong

Tesla’s Shanghai energy storage megafactory officially began production on February 11, less than nine months after breaking ground in May 2024. This rapid turnaround outpaced the timeline of Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory by three months. The Megapack factory is expected to ramp up production capacity in the first quarter of 2025.

Announced in April 2023, the Shanghai facility is Tesla’s first energy storage megafactory outside the U.S. It will manufacture Tesla’s large-scale Megapack batteries, with an initial annual production target of 10,000 units, amounting to a storage capacity of nearly 40 GWh. These products will serve both domestic and international markets.

Tesla Vice President Tao Lin previously stated that a portion of the Shanghai-made energy storage products will be supplied to China’s market, while the rest will be exported. BYD subsidiary FinDreams Battery signed a deal in March 2024 to supply battery cells to Tesla’s Shanghai Megafactory, with deliveries starting in the first quarter of this year, while CATL remains Tesla’s primary cell supplier.

Before the launch of the energy storage facility, Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory had already set records for its rapid construction and production, becoming the company’s first overseas car manufacturing plant and the first wholly foreign-owned auto factory in China. Today, it is a key production hub, supplying Model 3s and other vehicles to both domestic and global markets. As of October 2023, the factory had produced over three million vehicles, with a third of them exported overseas.