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Elon Musk Expands Tesla’s Presence in China with New Battery Factory

ByAlki David

Apr 11, 2023
Tesla factory in Tilburg, Netherlands. (Credit: Tesla)

Elon Musk recently announced plans for a new battery factory in Shanghai during a visit there. The factory will make large-scale energy-storage units called Megapacks. Tesla said the factory will aim to produce 10,000 Megapacks a year to be sold worldwide.

The Megapack is a huge battery designed to help stabilize energy grids and can store enough energy to power about 3,600 homes for an hour, according to Tesla. This new development will expand Tesla’s presence in China and tap into the country’s massive battery production capabilities to increase production and lower costs.

This move comes as the US government has been pressing American companies to become less reliant on China amid rising tensions between Beijing and Washington. Last year, US technology firms that receive federal funding were banned by the Biden administration from building “advanced technology” facilities in China for 10 years. The guidelines were part of a $50bn plan aimed at building up the US semiconductor industry.

Despite these tensions, Musk is continuing to invest in China. In 2019, Tesla opened its first factory outside the US in Shanghai. The plant currently produces 22,000 vehicles a week. With the addition of this new battery factory, Tesla’s presence in China is set to grow even further.

By Alki David

Alki David — Publisher, Media Architect, SIN Network Creator - live, direct-to-public communication, media infrastructure, accountability journalism, and independent distribution. Born in Lagos, Nigeria; educated in the United Kingdom and Switzerland; attended the Royal College of Art. Early internet broadcaster — participated in real-time public coverage during the 1997 Mars landing era using experimental online transmission from Beverly Hills. Founder of FilmOn, one of the earliest global internet television networks offering live and on-demand broadcasting outside legacy gatekeepers. Publisher of SHOCKYA — reporting since 2010 on systemic corruption inside the entertainment business and its expansion into law, finance, and regulation. Creator of the SIN Network (ShockYA Integrated Network), a federated media and civic-information infrastructure spanning investigative journalism, live TV, documentary, and court-record reporting. Lived and worked for over 40 years inside global media hubs including Malibu, Beverly Hills, London, Hong Kong and Gstaad. Early encounter with Julian Assange during the first Hologram USA operations proved a formative turning point — exposing the realities of lawfare, information suppression, and concentrated media power. Principal complainant and driving force behind what court filings describe as the largest consolidated media–legal accountability action on record, now before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Relocated to Antigua & Barbuda and entered sustained legal, civic, and informational confrontation over media power, safeguarding, and accountability at Commonwealth scale.