Tesla’s first made-in-China Model 3 to be showcased on August 29: report

Simon Alvarez

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Posted on August 27, 2019

The construction and development of Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai, China is already remarkable in terms of its speed, but recent social media reports from the Asian economic superpower indicate that the upcoming electric car production facility could be coming online earlier than expected.

Recent posts from prolific media sources in Weibo have indicated that Tesla is preparing to showcase its first Gigafactory 3-made Model 3 at the opening ceremony of the 2019 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, which will kick off on August 29, 2019. The updates come just a day after images and a video of Gigafactory 3’s interior was shared online, depicting what appears to be the preparations for trial production runs of the Model 3.

Responding to the Gigafactory 3 images, Weibo user Master pen Tang Hu (主笔唐驳虎), who is certified by the Chinese social media platform as a “well-known information blogger,” remarked that Gigafactory 3 is already in a “state of trial installation.” A rough translation of the information blogger’s recent post is as follows:

“It (Gigafactory 3) is already in the state of trial installation. It is said that the opening ceremony of the Shanghai World Artificial Intelligence Conference on the 29th of Thursday will show the first Shanghai-made Model 3. Nine months from the open space to the factory to the product. Watch the best with the American Factory. PS: Such interesting things. I think there should be a documentary film crew in the “China Factory” in the past 9 months?” he wrote.

Local report hinting at a reveal of Tesla’s China-made Model 3 later this week. (Credit: Master pen Tang Hu (主笔唐驳虎)/Weibo)

To state that these recent updates are astounding is an understatement. Elon Musk, after all, noted during Gigafactory 3’s groundbreaking ceremony in January that he expects trial Model 3 production to begin at the facility by the end of 2019. Tesla China and its construction partners have taken the CEO’s aggressive target timeframe to heart, allowing Gigafactory 3 to get built in but a few months. The first pillar of the facility was set up in mid-March, for example, which is just over five months ago.

A grand reveal of Tesla’s Made-in-China Model 3 in the opening day of the 2019 World Artificial Intelligence Conference could be a notable highlight to the upcoming event. After all, Elon Musk is set to be one of the speakers at the AI conference, kicking off the event with fellow disruptor Jack Ma, the founder and Chairman of China-based e-commerce behemoth Jack Ma. Musk’s China trip will see the CEO attending the AI conference, establishing The Boring Company’s China unit, and potentially visiting the Gigafactory 3 complex.

Tesla’s first made-in-China Model 3 to be showcased on August 29: report

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Tesla and other EVs to reach price parity with petrol by 2023, predicts noted futurist

Simon Alvarez

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Posted on August 26, 2019

Noted futurist Ray Wills from Perth, Australia recently stated in an interview that all-electric cars like the Nissan Leaf and the Tesla Model 3 will hit price parity with petrol cars by 2023. Wills further noted that only EVs will likely be produced by 2026 as many gas stations become obsolete. 

Wills, the managing director of advisory firm Future Smart Strategies and a board member of remote energy services provider Horizon Power, stated that the future of the automobile is coming, and it’s approaching far quicker than what many expect. 

“The future is coming faster than we think. And when it arrives, we always say it was faster than we thought,” he said in a statement to The Sydney Morning Herald. 

Explaining his stance, Wills stated that the sheer disruptive power of all-electric vehicles could be seen in how EVs have significantly eclipsed hybrids, the go-to green cars of the early 2000’s, as of late. This could be seen in how popular cars such as the Toyota Prius have fallen in recent years, and how all-electric vehicles like the Tesla Model 3 have captured the public’s interest. 

“When you see a disrupted market, it’s the thing that has the momentum that rules the day. Nobody will ever be exactly right. But I have been labeled as a futurist and the art of a futurist is to be the least wrong,” he said. 

Another notable key driver with the emergence of mainstream electric personal transportation is the investments currently being allotted to the transition by automobile companies. Volkswagen has announced that it is investing $40 billion in its EV initiatives, and even Toyota, which has long been dedicated to hybrid cars, announced a $2 billion investment for electric car development in Indonesia. Amidst this shift to electric-powered transportation, Wills stated that electrification will likely be complete by 2026. 

“Electrification, as I see it, will be virtually complete by 2026, the only cars built in my opinion will be electric, with the exception of some specialist bespoke vehicles,” he said. 

While notably ambitious, the futurist’s predictions do go in line with the aggressive plans of large auto markets such as China and Europe with regards to the adoption of electric cars. Both regions, which represent the largest markets for EVs today, have plans for banning diesel-powered cars from their major cities within the next few years.

Tesla and other EVs to reach price parity with petrol by 2023, predicts noted futurist

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Tesla considering Germany’s most populous state as potential Gigafactory 4 site

Simon Alvarez

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Posted on August 26, 2019

Just days after reports emerged that Tesla is looking into the German state of Lower Saxony as the potential site for its Europe Gigafactory, new reports from the region have revealed that another area in Germany, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), is being considered by the electric car maker as the location of its upcoming facility. 

Citing people familiar with the matter, German news agency The Rheinische Post reported on Sunday that Tesla is considering the NRW, Germany’s most populous state, as Gigafactory 4’s potential location. While brief, the Post‘s report stated that first inspections in the state have already taken place. 

Tesla Europe, for its part, has not issued a statement about The Rheinische Post‘s recent report. 

The idea of establishing a Gigafactory in Europe was initially mentioned by Elon Musk in late 2016 through statements made after Tesla acquired Grohmann Engineering. Musk provided more details about Tesla’s plans for Gigafactory 4 in June 2018, noting on Twitter that Germany was the leading choice for the upcoming facility’s location. “Perhaps on the German-French border makes sense, near the Benelux countries,” Musk tweeted.

With this in mind, the German sites currently under consideration make perfect sense. The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), for example, shares a border with the Netherlands and Belgium. Lower Saxony, the other state reportedly being considered by Tesla, shares a border with the Netherlands, as noted in a Reuters report. 

An official from the state of NRW has not shared any insights about Tesla’s inspection or reported initiatives in the area, though Lower Saxony Economics Minister Bernd Althusmann has noted that his region will be a good match for the electric car maker. 

“A good location in the European transport network including port connections, a dynamic research landscape and renewable energies on the doorstep: Lower Saxony is one of the world’s top regions of the automotive industry, which is also Tesla known,” Althusmann said.

Tesla appears to be closing in on Germany as the site for its Europe Gigafactory, which will likely produce vehicles that are intended to be distributed to the region. With its aggressive emissions targets, Europe is projected to be the auto industry’s second-largest driver for electric vehicles over the next decade, trailing only China. With this in mind, Gigafactory 4 could serve a similar purpose as Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory, which is expected to cater to the local Chinese market.

Tesla considering Germany’s most populous state as potential Gigafactory 4 site

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