Tesla's new Shanghai mega-factory pushes out first batch of batteries
Tesla’s electric vehicle business and its founder may be mired in controversy, but its energy storage segment continues to quietly deliver
Tesla has exported the first shipment of its Megapack batteries from a giant new Shanghai factory, as the energy storage segment of Elon Musk’s clean tech company continues to provide a tonic to the company's wider woes.
The first shipment of Megapack batteries set sail today (Friday) from Shanghai Port, Tesla announced, just months after the company fired up production at the new factory. The shipment is destined for Australia, according to local media reports.
Megapacks have until now been produced at a California factory east of San Francisco. That has now been joined by the Shanghai plant, where test production started in January.
The Shanghai plant will initially make 10,000 Megapack units, representing around 40GWh of energy storage, annually. Tesla’s move is a rare foray for a Western battery maker into China, a country that dominates the global battery industry.
The firing up of the new factory provides some welcome good news for Tesla, which has shed over half of its share price since a December high that followed Donald Trump’s US election win, in which Musk played a key part.
Musk’s access to and influence over Trump has brought potential benefits on the one hand, but his association with the President – a climate change denier who has introduced swingeing tariffs and taken a hammer to the country’s wind industry since taking office – has also damaged the image of the company best known as an electric vehicle maker.
Musk’s deepening association with far-right political groups the world over, including Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Germany, and suggestions that he has flirted with Nazi imagery have further damaged the image of Tesla, which has seen protests at its electric vehicle showrooms and vandalism of its vehicles.
This week, it was announced Tesla would have to recall 46,000 of its signature Cybertrucks after it was found to have used the wrong glue for an exterior panel, putting it at risk of detaching when the cars are in motion.
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