How a carmaker in China rolls out an EV every 30 seconds

BEIJING, Nov. 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- This is a report from China.org.cn about Tesla China:

In 30 seconds, what could you do? Maybe brush your teeth? Maybe enjoy a slice of cake? But what if I tell you something amazing happens in the same amount of time?

A Tesla Model Y rolls off the assembly line approximately every 30 seconds! Let's take a closer look.

It's quite remarkable, isn't it? And guess where this is unfolding? Not in California, not in Berlin, but in Shanghai, China.

Construction of the Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory began in January 2019. Today, the factory can produce 950,000 cars each year. That's about one car approximately every 30 seconds!

So, how does the Shanghai Gigafactory achieve this? Let's dive in and find out!

"The advanced technology of Tesla is a big part of this achievement," said Liu Dingsen, L&D Manager, Tesla (China) Learning & Development Center to China.org.cn at the China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing on November 29. "But it wouldn't be possible without China's well-established supply system."

"Our Shanghai Gigafactory works with over 400 first-tier local suppliers. Through collaboration, more than 60 Chinese suppliers have entered Tesla's global supply system. Currently, Gigafactory Shanghai has achieved a localization rate of over 95% for components, and over 99.9% employees of Tesla China are Chinese," said Liu. "We can say that Tesla electric vehicles produced in Shanghai are truly Made-in-China cars."

In October, China exported 112,000 new energy passenger vehicles. Of these, over 43,000 cars were from Tesla China, making up nearly 40% of the total.

To understand this success story, you don't need to visit the Shanghai factory personally. As if getting access were that easy, right? A great alternative is to visit the China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing.

We are now at the China International Supply Chain Expo in Shunyi, the world's first of its kind.

Here, visitors can learn about the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the various supply chains driving these miracles.

Among the 515 exhibitors, 132 are foreign-funded enterprises and institutions from 55 countries and regions, accounting for 26%. Many are Fortune Global 500 companies. Many are Fortune Global 500 companies.

We're currently in the Smart Vehicle section. As we know, over half of the world's new energy vehicles on roads are in China. So, this expo also showcases cutting-edge technologies in this industry. Let's go and see.

Visitors can discover not only well-known automakers like GEELY and ZEEKR, but also key industry players like CATL. This leading lithium-ion battery manufacturer hails from Ningde, a city in southeastern China. Although their name might not roll off the tongue, they're pushing the electric vehicle industry to new electrifying heights.

"The booth of CATL you are seeing now is part of the ESAE, also known as the Energy Storage Advanced Exhibition," said Fang Yue, Director and Executive Vice President of Blue Strategy at the expo.

"It showcases the products and services of 24 companies in the field of energy storage systems and power batteries that are participating in the exhibition as a consortium," said Fang.

Fang said all companies in the exhibition area have direct or indirect partnerships with each other, covering the entire energy storage industrial chain and formed a complete, stable and secure energy storage ecosystem.

"For example, you are now seeing the booth of CATL's partner, SUNNIC. Their supercharging system can be used to charge the Shenxing superfast charging battery," said Fang. "In other words, the exhibition area is not just a showcase for certain products, but also shows a supply chain, an industrial chain and a value chain. In this way, we hope to contribute to the high-quality development of the new energy industry."

"As I said, it showcases the Bosch advanced automated driving solutions in China," said Liu Xiaofei, Director of Corporate Communication of Bosch China. "It contains, the middle screen basically showcases the driving situation in an elevated road as well as the congested area in the downtown city center situation."

Liu said Bosch developed the solutions together with its Chinese partners, the so called WeRide. At the 1st CISCE, Bosch invited four of its local suppliers like WeRide, SupplyOn, Black Sesame as well as HESAI Technology, and they are all showcasing their technology and solutions here at the booth.

"Well, at Bosch we stick to our "Local for Local" strategy and we conduct over 90% of our business in China for the local market," Liu sad. "Here in China, by actively collaborating with our local partners, we can serve our customers much better so as to make our supply chain much more resilient."

I've never considered myself to be a particularly skilled driver. However, exploring this section has made me optimistic that future mobility will be significantly smarter. It seems that in the future, anyone could be a good driver, as long as they're good at talking!

But now, I have some new questions. If the future of mobility is dominated by the electric vehicles, do we have sufficient electricity?

And is there an environmentally friendly way to generate it? Watch my next video, and you'll find the answer!