Tesla Says Giga Shanghai Now Gets 98% of Its Parts From China

Tesla says 98% of the parts in cars built at its Shanghai plant now come from Chinese suppliers. For several years the company had described the share as “over 95%.” The new figure appeared in a Tesla press release at the ninth China International Import Expo (CIIE), which opened in Shanghai this week, according to Not a Tesla App, citing CnEVPost.

The number matters outside China because some of those suppliers now make parts for Teslas assembled elsewhere, including models sold in the U.S.

How Chinese suppliers reach Teslas built in other countries

Tesla works with more than 400 tier-1 suppliers in China. A tier-1 supplier sells parts straight to the automaker rather than to another parts maker. More than 60 of these companies have joined Tesla’s global supply chain, so components developed with them now go into vehicles built at other Tesla plants.

Some suppliers also help design parts. The seat armrests and leg supports of the Model Y L, a six-seat version of the Model Y, were developed together with Chinese suppliers and tuned for buyers there. The Model Y L went on sale in China first, then in Japan, South Korea and Australia. It reached the U.S. in July.

What this means for U.S. owners and shoppers

A Model Y L bought in the U.S. carries interior parts that were co-developed in China, and the 60-plus suppliers in Tesla’s global network mean more Chinese-sourced parts can end up in cars from other factories. Tesla did not say which models or plants use them, or in what volume.

Inside Tesla’s largest factory

Construction at Giga Shanghai started in January 2019, and the plant was producing cars by the end of that year. It is Tesla’s biggest factory, able to build about 1 million vehicles a year, mostly the Model 3 and Model Y.

The site covers roughly 730,000 square meters. Tesla says about 93.3% of that area is used for production and that the plant has no reception halls or private dining rooms and elevators for executives. A car leaves the line roughly every 30-plus seconds, and the factory reuses more than 94% of its industrial waste, the company said.

Sales from Shanghai keep rising

Wholesale sales from Giga Shanghai, exports included, reached 810,889 vehicles in the first 10 months of the year. That is 21.42% more than a year earlier. Tesla China sold 67,829 vehicles in October, about 10% more than in October last year.

Tesla’s other plants are expanding as well. Giga Texas is reportedly adding a night shift to double production. At Giga Berlin, Tesla plans a second production hall that would eventually lift output to 1 million vehicles a year, the same as Shanghai.

What Tesla is showing at the Shanghai expo

Tesla’s CIIE stand includes the new Model Y Performance, an exploded display of Model Y parts, the Optimus humanoid robot and the Cybercab. The company has delivered more than 10 million vehicles worldwide.

Source: Not a Tesla App