The company will build a new plant on nearby land in the same area, which is poised to add an annual capacity of 450,000 cars, including Model 3s and Model Ys, becoming “the world’s largest vehicle export hub”, the letter said.
The Shanghai plant delivered 484,100 vehicles throughout 2021, Tesla has said previously.
Tesla and the Shanghai government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Numerous factories were shut after Shanghai went into lockdown from March to combat the spread of COVID. While some have started reopening, getting workers back has proven difficult as some restrictions remain for others. Read full story
The 22-day shutdown of Tesla’s Shanghai factory was its longest since it began production in late 2019, and caused an output loss of more than 50,000 vehicles, according to calculations based on Tesla’s output plans seen by Reuters.
Tesla makes its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in Shanghai, serving the Chinese market and acting as an export hub to Germany and Japan.
The strong show of support from Shanghai also comes after Tesla had a difficult period with authorities last year, when it came under scrutiny over data security and product quality issues.