First pictures INSIDE Tesla’s $2b ‘Gigafactory’ reveal site is ‘already doing trial production runs’

Photographs thought to have been taken inside Tesla’s $2billion ‘Gigafactory’ in China have revealed the remarkably quick progress at the site which could already be doing trial production runs. 

Construction of the plant has been in full swing since January in Lingang area, a high-end manufacturing park in the southeast harbour of Shanghai. 

In a post shared on social media yesterday four pictures revealed the high-tech interior of the factory and suggested that the company was already working on runs of Tesla’s Model 3.

New aerial pictures also showed the enormous site appearing to be nearing completion with a large white building, which dominates the 864,885-square metre lot, now having walls and a roof. 

Pictures taken in April showed this huge space and another building as just steel structures, with dozens of cranes dotted around the grounds. 

Pictures thought to have been taken inside Tesla’s $2billion Gigafactory in Shanghai have revealed that the company appears to be doing a trial production run only eight months after building work started on the site

Shells of several cars can be seen on a production line inside a huge open space which is covered with machinery

Shells of several cars can be seen on a production line inside a huge open space which is covered with machinery

New aerial pictures taken yesterday of the Gigafactory in Shanghai revealed how quickly the huge site has taken shape. The production line is expected to start by the end of this year

New aerial pictures taken yesterday of the Gigafactory in Shanghai revealed how quickly the huge site has taken shape. The production line is expected to start by the end of this year

The huge white building, pictured yesterday, which dominates the 864,885-square metre lot now has walls and a roof while smaller buildings have also appeared

The huge white building, pictured yesterday, which dominates the 864,885-square metre lot now has walls and a roof while smaller buildings have also appeared

Twitter user and Tesla fan Vincent, whose bio also revealed he is a shareholder in the company, shared four images said to be from inside the plant.

Shells of several cars can be seen on a production line in a huge open space which is covered with machinery. 

Tesla fans have also suggested that the first made in China Model 3 car could be created very soon and perhaps even at the Shanghai World Artificial Intelligence Conference which starts tomorrow, reports Teslarati. 

Shanghai city government official Chen Mingbo said in March that the plant’s assembly workshop was expected to be completed in May, adding that part of the facility’s production line would be put into operation by the end of the year. 

In April Jerome Guillen, Tesla’s President of Automotive, met with Shanghai’s deputy mayor, Wu Qing, to discuss construction progress, supply chain logistics and future development plans, according to a statement released by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce. 

Work on the Shanghai site, inside pictured, only started in January

No people can be seen in the pictures shared on social media

Twitter user and Tesla fan Vincent, whose bio also revealed he is a shareholder in the company, shared the images on Tuesday

Tesla did not reveal how much they paid for the land, however the Shanghai Bureau of Planning and Land Resources revealed in October 2018 that a plot of 864,885 square metres had been sold at auction at a price of 973 million yuan ($140.51 million)

Tesla did not reveal how much they paid for the land, however the Shanghai Bureau of Planning and Land Resources revealed in October 2018 that a plot of 864,885 square metres had been sold at auction at a price of 973 million yuan ($140.51 million)

A huge building with more than 50 spaces for lorries appears to be almost complete now and there are significantly less building materials on the site than compared to pictures of the area from April

A huge building with more than 50 spaces for lorries appears to be almost complete now and there are significantly less building materials on the site than compared to pictures of the area from April

The project, with an investment of more than 50 billion yuan (US$7 billion), is the largest foreign-invested manufacturing project in Shanghai's history and Tesla's first plant outside the United States. Pictured is the Gigafactory site yesterday

The project, with an investment of more than 50 billion yuan (US$7 billion), is the largest foreign-invested manufacturing project in Shanghai’s history and Tesla’s first plant outside the United States. Pictured is the Gigafactory site yesterday

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has previously said he hopes the Shanghai factory, pictured on Saturday, will be built in'record time'

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has previously said he hopes the Shanghai factory, pictured on Saturday, will be built in’record time’

A construction worker told the Global Times on condition of anonymity that the factory will complete construction in July or August with the speed workers were achieving.

Tesla intends to use the 500,000-vehicle-capacity plant to produce base versions of Model 3 and later also the Model Y. 

The project, with an investment of more than 50 billion yuan (US$7 billion), is the largest foreign-invested manufacturing project in Shanghai’s history and Tesla’s first plant outside the United States.

‘We think with the resources here we can build the Shanghai Gigafactory in record time and we’re looking forward to hopefully having some initial production of the Model 3 towards the end of this year and achieving volume production next year,’ Tesla CEO Elon Musk said at the ground-breaking ceremony in January. 

‘Affordable cars must be made on same continent as customers,’ Musk wrote on Twitter ahead of the event. 

A full-fledged auto assembly factory can take about two years to build but the Shanghai government has thrown its support behind the Tesla project, which would be China’s first wholly foreign-owned car plant and a reflection of the government’s broader shift to open up its car market. 

The Gigafactory site made rapid progress up to April, pictured four months ago, since it officially broke ground in January

The Gigafactory site made rapid progress up to April, pictured four months ago, since it officially broke ground in January

Pile foundation works at the 864,885-square metre lot were finished in April and the steel structure construction of the factory has begun, according to officials. Multiple sets of steel roof grids were also been installed

Pile foundation works at the 864,885-square metre lot were finished in April and the steel structure construction of the factory has begun, according to officials. Multiple sets of steel roof grids were also been installed

Shanghai city government official Chen Mingbo said in March that the plant's assembly workshop is expected to be completed in May. The site is pictured in April

Shanghai city government official Chen Mingbo said in March that the plant’s assembly workshop is expected to be completed in May. The site is pictured in April

A construction worker told Global Times on condition of anonymity the factory (pictured in April) will complete construction in July or August. Operation is expected to start by the end of this year

A construction worker told Global Times on condition of anonymity the factory (pictured in April) will complete construction in July or August. Operation is expected to start by the end of this year

Producing cars locally is also likely to help Tesla minimise the impact of the Sino-US trade war, which has forced the car maker to lower prices of its US-made cars in China – which has becoming increasingly important as the company seeks to offset softening demand in the United States. 

Trade war aside, the carmaker is building the plant in an auto market that likely contracted last year for the first time in decades. 

However, sales of so-called new-energy vehicles (NEVs) – a category which includes Tesla’s battery-powered cars – continue to be strong in a country where the government aims to shift away entirely from combustion engine vehicles. 

Tesla intends to use the 500,000-vehicle-capacity plant to produce base versions of Model 3 and later also the Model Y. The site is pictured in April when the buildings were just metal frames

Tesla intends to use the 500,000-vehicle-capacity plant to produce base versions of Model 3 and later also the Model Y. The site is pictured in April when the buildings were just metal frames

Before: An aerial photo taken on Jan 3 shows the barren 864,885-square metre lot before the ground-breaking ceremony

Before: An aerial photo taken on Jan 3 shows the barren 864,885-square metre lot before the ground-breaking ceremony

Tesla purchased the plot of land at the end of last year and did not reveal how much they paid for it. However the Shanghai Bureau of Planning and Land Resources revealed in October that a plot of land of 864,885 square metres had been sold at auction at a price of 973 million yuan ($140.51 million). 

Tesla signed the deal with Shanghai authorities in July 2018 to open the plant with an annual capacity of 500,000 cars.

Elon Musk’s car company already has a Gigafactory on Electric Avenue in Sparks, Nevada.  The factory’s name stems from ‘giga,’ a unit of measurement that represents billions.

One gigawatt hour is the equivalent of generating one billion watts for one hour — one million times that of one kilowatt hour. Tesla expected the factory to be producing 35 gigawatt hours of batteries by 2018.

Once completed in 2020, the factory is set to become one of the biggest buildings in the world, with a final size of 10 million square feet. It has been built in phases so that production could start immediately.

The project, with an investment of over US$7billion, is the largest foreign-invested manufacturing project in Shanghai history. Pictured are two workers making progress on the factory in April

The project, with an investment of over US$7billion, is the largest foreign-invested manufacturing project in Shanghai history. Pictured are two workers making progress on the factory in April

A full-fledged auto assembly factory (pictured in April) can take about two years to build but the Shanghai government has thrown its support behind the Tesla project, which would be China's first wholly foreign-owned car plant

A full-fledged auto assembly factory (pictured in April) can take about two years to build but the Shanghai government has thrown its support behind the Tesla project, which would be China’s first wholly foreign-owned car plant

Sales of so-called new-energy vehicles (NEVs) - a category which includes Tesla's battery-powered cars - continue to be strong in China, where the government aims to shift away from combustion engine vehicles. The site is pictured in April

Sales of so-called new-energy vehicles (NEVs) – a category which includes Tesla’s battery-powered cars – continue to be strong in China, where the government aims to shift away from combustion engine vehicles. The site is pictured in April

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Chinese officials announced the beginning of construction at the Shanghai site on Jan 7 2019

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Chinese officials announced the beginning of construction at the Shanghai site on Jan 7 2019

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