A recent video published by New China TV gives us a look inside Giga Shanghai amid Tesla Model Y production. The video is actually an interview that’s happening in the background while the cameras roll in the highly efficient electric vehicle factory in China.
Tesla is known for its cutting-edge manufacturing techniques, and recently, even Toyota took notice. CEO Elon Musk has said on multiple occasions that Tesla’s lead over other automakers will come primarily from its manufacturing edge. The company recently opened two new factories, one in Germany and the other in Texas, and it just announced another that’s coming to Mexico.
Tesla’s main factory is still active in Fremont, California, though Giga Shanghai in China is arguably the automaker’s most important and successful factory to date. It not only produces EVs for the domestic market, which is the largest in the world, but also for export.
There are all sorts of important details in the nearly 30-minute video. However, the key focus is on “Tesla Speed.” More specifically, we learn just how quickly Tesla can produce the most popular EV in the world, the Tesla Model Y.
During the video, the host asks how long it takes for Tesla to build a Model Y electric crossover at the China factory. Reportedly, it takes about two and a half hours from the very first station to the end of the final assembly. The Giga Shanghai employee in the video interview shares:
“I think from the first station to the last station, it takes about two and a half hours to finish all the stations.”
While that may sound like a long time since you’ve probably heard that cars come off the assembly line every few minutes at some automakers, that’s not the same. Those numbers don’t include the entire process from start to finish, which can typically take an average of 18 to 35 hours per vehicle.
Tesla already appears to have a huge edge over most automakers when it comes to manufacturing, and it’s constantly speeding up its factories and building more. The automaker hasn’t even come close to moving its lineup to the new Gigacasting technique and structural battery packs, which stand to improve the speed exponentially. What’s more, Tesla is already working on a new, smaller platform that will cost much less to build and speed up the manufacturing process significantly.
According to Teslarati, based on an internal memo shared by Reuters, Tesla China is aiming to increase the output at Giga Shanghai to 20,000 EVs per week effective immediately. If it can pull it off, the EV maker could produce some 80,000 Model 3 and Model Y EVs per month for domestic and global consumption.
