Breaking: 1st Chinese Tesla Model 3s Are Rolling Down Gigafactory 3 Assembly Line

September 23rd, 2019 by Steve Hanley

A leaked photo posted by Vincent, Tesla tweeter extraordinaire, on September 23 shows a white Model 3 on the assembly line at Tesla Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai, China. A previous tweet by Vincent claimed that some people who have ordered a Model 3 in China have started receiving tutorials about the operation of their cars. Usually, those tutorials are sent out 4 to 6 weeks before delivery of the cars takes place.

According to Interesting Engineering, the leaked photo was attributed to Weibo user 常岩, who is the chief auto editor of Tencent Auto. Tencent is a giant Chinese tech firm that owns approximately 5% of Tesla.

A subsequent tweet by Vincent said, “Rumor: Estimated that the first group of the Made in China Model 3 will be delivered in November.”

Tesla began accepting pre-orders for Chinese-made Model 3s at the end of May. Typically, the time between when an order is placed and when a car is delivered in early production line development has been about 6 to 10 months, which puts November right at the beginning of that window.

As to when the factory will begin volume production, that is a matter of conjecture at the moment. There is a possibility 1,000 to 2,000 cars a week could be coming off the assembly line in Shanghai by the end of this year or early in 2020, which would be very good news for Tesla. Demand for the Model 3 in China appears to be strong. With lots of detractors saying demand for Tesla automobiles is weakening, a strong showing from China could be just what Tesla needs to silence its various critics.









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