Tesla is looking to tap into the growing EV market in India and has been seeking tax concessions to set up a plant in India.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, recently paid a visit to Tesla’s manufacturing facility in Fremont, California.

During his visit, Goyal met with Tesla engineers and engaged with the company’s finance teams.

“Extremely delighted to see talented Indian engineers & finance professionals working at Senior positions and contributing to Tesla’s remarkable journey to transform mobility,” Goyal said.

“Also proud to see the growing importance of Auto component suppliers from India in the Tesla EV supply chain. It is on its way to double its components imports from India. Missed Mr @ElonMusk’s magnetic presence and I wish him a speedy recovery,” he added.

Following the minister’s visit to the factory, Elon Musk posted on X saying, “It was an honour to have you visit Tesla! My Apologies for not being able to travel to California today, but I look forward to meeting at a future date.”

Tesla is looking to tap into the growing EV market in India and has been seeking tax concessions to set up a plant in India. It is said that the government could reduce the import duty on green cars provided that the carmakers agree to manufacture their vehicles in India.

The Tesla Model Y was the first vehicle to roll off the new production line.

Tesla has officially opened its new Gigafactory in Berlin, Germany. The opening was marked by the handover of the first production models to customers.

The new Tesla Gigafactory is located in the city of Grunheide, east of Berlin, and is the first in Europe. It was inaugurated by Elon Musk. The opening ceremony was also attended by a number of other German high ranking officials.

The Berlin Gigafactory is said to have a production capacity of 30,000 vehicles for the first six months. This, however, will be increased to 5 lakh vehicles per year very soon. The Tesla Model Y was the first vehicle to roll off the new production line.

Construction of the Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin began in May 2020. The plant was initially set to start production in 2021. However, it was delayed due to the pandemic and other environmental issues.

Tesla has started deliveries of its cars made at its Gigafactory in China. 15 Model 3 units were delivered to Tesla employees.

It is said that the company wanted to start deliveries before the Lunar New Year, which begins on 25 January 2020. The company plans to increase production from the beginning of 2020.

Tesla used to import cars to China and faced high tariffs. The cars made in China will be sold in China and will not be exported to the US. At present, goods made in China and exported to the US face high tariffs, forcing manufacturers to move production out of China to the US.

According to a media report, the NITI Aayog plans to set up large factories to manufacture lithium-ion batteries at an investment of about Rs. 50,000 crore.

The report states that India will need 6 gigawatt-scale factories of 10 GWh each by 2025. The NITI Aayog estimates this number to double by 2030. Companies like Tesla, China-based Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd (CATL) and BYD have reportedly shown interest in the government's plan. The aim is to make India a global manufacturing hub for electric vehicles and reduce the nation's crude oil dependence, while also saving foreign exchange and reducing pollution in cities.

The Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) has reportedly cleared plans to set up 50 GWh factories. The minimum and maximum ceiling for bidding is said to be 5 GWh and 20 GWh respectively. The final tender is expected to be awarded by February 2020. 

Besides serving the electric vehicle market, batteries produced at these factories are expected to be used to store energy generated through renewable sources.

Source: LiveMint

According to a media report, Tesla has released the prices for made in China Model 3 sedan and has started accepting bookings. The car will be offered at a starting price of 328,000 yuan and customers can book their cars with a payment of 20,000 yuan. Deliveries are expected to begin in 6 to 10 months.

In November 2017, Tesla finalised a manufacturing facility in China. The first model to be manufactured in this facility will be the Model 3. Compared to the made in USA Model 3 cars sold in China, the locally made cars are 49,000 yuan cheaper.

Local production will give access to incentives which could help Tesla sell more cars. China has slowly been reducing its incentives on EVs and it is unclear if they will be offered on the locally manufactured Model 3.

Source: Electrek

Earlier this week, we reported that Tesla has opened its first Gigafactory in the Nevada desert. The company's CEO, Elon Musk has commented that there is a possibility of India being home to a Gigafactory in the future.

In a speech about the establishment in Nevada, Elon Musk revealed that the company is open to building more Gigafactories in the future, if the demand arises. He said that the obvious way to optimize shipping costs and supply is to build new factories wherever there is a huge demand. As a result, the automaker might invest in more such facilities in Europe, China, and India, depending on how the markets respond to Tesla cars.

The Nevada Gigafactory is a part of Tesla's plans to be self-sufficient in developing sustainable power sources. The production facility is being developed in an area spanning 10 million square feet, and will be used for in-house development of battery packs for Tesla's cars and PowerWall business. This is expected to help the US-based automaker to reduce manufacturing costs of its cars, thus making them more affordable.

Source: Autocar India

Tesla Motors has officially opened its battery production facility called the Gigafactory. This facility is located in the Nevada desert, and has been built for in-house production of batteries in order to reduce production costs of Tesla cars.

Tesla started building the Gigafactory two years back. The construction is still only 14% complete, but the US-based electric car maker claims that 31 percent of the production facility would be completed by the second quarter of 2017. Once the entire facility has been built, the Tesla Gigafactory will spread over an area of 10 million square feet.

Tesla claims that the Gigafactory will help it reduce battery costs by more than a third by the year 2018. This will help the automaker to add more affordable cars to its portfolio.

At present, the biggest job at hand for the Gigafactory is the production of battery packs for Tesla's recently revealed car - the Model 3. The Model 3 is the company's most affordable car yet. Tesla engineers have used a new type of battery cell in it, which is different to the units used in earlier models like the Model S and the Model X. This new battery cell has helped the car maker to price the Model 3 at a relatively lower tag of $ 35,000.

Panasonic Corp., Tesla's long-term battery supplier, is also a partner in the Nevada based Gigafactory. The Japanese electronics firm has invested $ 1.6 billion in the production facility. Panasonic is expected to start making battery cells by the end of this year.

Tesla is aiming to build 5,00,000 vehicles per year by 2018. The company's CEO, Elon Musk, had recently disclosed its future strategy, which stated its plans to venture into other vehicle segments like pickups, compact SUVs, and commercial vehicles.

Source: Bloomberg