Tesla Gigafactory 3 May Produce Over 17k Model 3 by the End of 2019

Tesla Gigafactory 3 is expected to produce more than 17,000 Model 3 sedans before 2020, according to recent local reports. The Shanghai factory just received its mass production license, allowing it to manufacture the Model 3 at scale. If Gigafactory China does produce more than 17K vehicles for 2019, Tesla could meet its self-imposed goal of delivering 360,000-400,000 cars to customers before the end of the year. 

Tesla has been waiting for its manufacturing license for a few weeks already. The all-electric car maker received certification to begin trial production in early October and just needed the mass production license for the fun to really begin. Elon Musk's company received its serial production license from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China on November 13. 

$tslaq doomed days, more exciting news about .@Tesla #Gigafactory are coming out 🚀

Nearly 50 MIC #Model3 cars are parking outside of #GF3

Phase II giga roof is basically completed now

Giga Berlin has been announced! 🔥

.@elonmusk #China pic.twitter.com/TeX8DCgPSn

— Chao Zhou 👽 (@realChaoZhou) November 13, 2019

Drone operator Jason Yang spotted around 30 made-in-China Model 3 cars parked on Gigafactory 3's lot on Halloween. On the same day that Tesla received its mass production license, 50 Model 3 units could be seen parked on the facility's lot, as mentioned by Tesla enthusiast Chao Zhou on Twitter. According to information acquired by Chinese publication The Global Times, Tesla's Shanghai factory could produce around 17,400 Model 3 sedans before the end of the year.

Based on the 17,400 estimate, Tesla's factory in China will manufacture 2,900 Model 3 units a week. This pace is well above the Fremont's factory's weekly output at the beginning of the Model 3 ramp, with the company only hitting a pace of 2,500 Model 3 per week at the end of Q1 2018, more than six months into the all-electric sedan's production. The VP of Tesla Global Grace Tao previously estimated that GF3 would produce 3,000 units a week back in October, a number that's very close to the information acquired by The Global Times.

Earlier this year, Elon Musk estimated that Tesla would produce its vehicles at a run-rate equivalent to about 500K electric cars by the end of 2019. To accomplish Musk's goals, the pure electric automaker's output would have to be 10K cars a week. With Gigafactory 3 Phase 1 up and running now, Musk's 500K goal before 2020 could be feasible.  

Jason Yang/YouTube