New Tesla Gigafactory 3 Leaked Photos Show Model 3 In Production

Another day, another Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory 3 leak, but this one's really big.

Tesla Inc. is restating a claim made by CEO Elon Musk a few months ago that Giga Shanghai, which is still being built, will have 3,000 Model 3 electric vehicles (EVs) rolling off its new assembly lines by the end of the year.

Latest "leaks" seem to confirm Tesla's production timeline. New leaks from users on Weibo show Model 3 bodies inside Giga Shanghai. It's also believed Tesla had already installed body production machines and their accompanying robots.

That's pretty impressive stuff considering that construction began only in December 2018. Tesla's Gigafactory 3 stands on 86 hectares (210 acres) of land in Lingang, Shanghai. Earlier this week, it passed a mandatory government inspection required before starting production.

Giga Shanghai will assemble Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y EVs at an initial production rate target of 250,000 EVs per year. It will also produce the battery packs that power these EVs.

In early August, the assembly building exteriors were almost complete. Manufacturing equipment began being installed later that month. Production of the first Model 3 EVs is still scheduled for November.

Some analysts, however, noted these images don't confirm the bodies were built in the factory. There have been no sightings of a complete Made in China Model 3 built at the factory, neither have any drivetrains been seen.

Some also feel Giga Shanghai won't be able to produce the required number of battery packs in time, and Tesla might instead import these from Gigafactory 1 in Nevada. A lithium-ion battery and EV subassembly factory, Giga 1 supplies supply battery packs for all Tesla EVs and stationary storage systems.

Previous leaks in late August showed the interior of Giga Shanghai and, for the first time, revealed Tesla was already preparing for trial production runs of its Model 3. Tesla continues the rapid installation of manufacturing equipment and robots at the factory.

Leaks on Chinese social media platform Weibo from “Battery King” (an electric car enthusiast) reveal a largely complete section of Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai. The images show two partly-built Model 3s on an assembly line surrounded by various types of equipment.