Regardless of what happens with Giga Texas and Giga Berlin, it seems Tesla will continue using Giga Shanghai as an export hub, at least for now. Tesla has already made it clear that production will get off to a slow start in Texas and Germany, and it seems the company still can't provide a guarantee as to when the factories will open, especially the one in Germany.
Tesla has found much success in China, despite some relatively substantial issues in the country earlier this year. In fact, the factory in Shanghai has already proven that it's able to produce at a higher rate than originally projected. Moreover, Tesla has been shipping vehicles out of China to help fill orders in Europe.
We thought perhaps this would light a fire under regulators in Germany since they'd likely rather have German-made Teslas selling in the country, but delays have continued regardless. In addition, as China is kicking gas and accelerating the transition to EVs much quicker than the United States, Tesla's use of Giga Shanghai as an export hub should cause concern for the Biden Administration, but again, it seems nothing has really changed.
That said, Tesla has signed a one-year agreement with Hyundai Glovis – a logistics company out of South Korea specializing in car distribution, among other shipping-related services – to ship its vehicles from China to other parts of the world. The contract is reportedly worth $422 million, per TradeWinds, a global shipment tracking website.
According to Teslarati, Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared in September:
“Giga Shanghai makes cars for export in first half of quarter, then cars for far away parts of China, then cars for nearby parts of China. Net result is a crazy wave of deliveries end of quarter. It is tough on our team, so we’re hoping to reduce the wave in Q4 & Q1.”
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Do you think China will remain as a primary export hub for Tesla well into the future? If the automaker continues to succeed in China while being snubbed in the US in Germany, could Tesla China eventually grow to become the brand's unofficial world headquarters? Leave us your thoughts in the comment section below.
Sources: Teslarati, TradeWinds