Tesla Giga Shanghai Fully Switches to Model 3 Highland Production: Report

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Giga Shanghai is fully switching to Model 3 Highland production, according to a report. The production target for August is 7,000 units with a gradual increase in the following months. Production of the updated Model 3 in Fremont could also begin soon.

Over the past months, we have repeatedly heard about the updated Model 3, codenamed Highland. Test mules have often been seen on the roads with the front and rear of the car covered, as well as the dashboard inside the car. Tesla remains silent and has never openly commented on the updated model.

However, sightings and bits of information from different sources have already given us a rough idea of what to expect. Elon Musk has previously said that following the use of the front and rear castings for Model Y, the company will start producing Model 3 using the same method. According to various sources, this will be part of the Model 3 update. In addition, we have heard about the use of the FSD Hardware (HW) 4, a redesign of the body, a structuralfrom 60 kWh to 66 kWh battery pack and some other improvements.

In early August, @ChrisZheng001/X (Chris Zheng) reported that Giga Shanghai had begun test production of the Model 3 Highland. He also said that in about two weeks after that, the factory will completely switch to the production of the updated version. Now Zheng has shared that the Model 3 production line at Giga Shanahai has been fully shifted to the updated model production. He clarified that the target production for August is 7,000 units. Next month, 10,000 units will be produced. The factory will need some time before it can ramp up production to full capacity.

Starting tomorrow, Gigashanghai Model 3 production line will be fully shifted to Highland production, with a target production of 7,000 this month and 10,000 next month. Production capacity is no longer hell, but ramping is still not easy.

— Chris Zheng (@ChrisZheng001) August 13, 2023

Apparently, Tesla's Fremont factory will also soon begin production of the updated Model 3. @SF___Tahoe/X (Amy) reported that the filings in both China and the US took place at approximately the same time, in July. She added that the stoppage of the Model 3 production line for upgrades has already taken place in Fremont. However, due to less publicity in the US, it is difficult to confirm the exact timing. Amy expects that soon the updated Model 3 will appear on the release list in China.

Paperwork was filed with the US around the same time as China. The line shutdown already happened in Fremont for upgrades, but there is less publicly available info in the US so it is hard to confirm exact timing.

— Amy (@SF___Tahoe) August 13, 2023

Tesla's production slowdown in Q3 is not a surprise. During the Q2 2023 Earnings Call, Musk, while reaffirming a goal to deliver 1.8 million vehicles this year, said the company would slow production in Q3. He said there would be shutdowns “for a lot of factory upgrades” over the summer.

“We continue to target 1.8 million vehicle deliveries this year. Although, we expect that Q3 production will be a little bit down because we've got summer shutdowns to -- for a lot of factory upgrades. So, just probably a slight decrease in production in Q3 for sort of global factory upgrades.”

© 2023, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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