Tesla's Pioneering Giga Shanghai Employee Set to Depart.

Tesla Inc.’s Vice President of Manufacturing at Gigafactory Shanghai, Song Gang, is reportedly leaving the company this week.

What Happened

Song’s responsibilities will be taken over by Fei Wenjin, who was recently promoted to Senior Director from Director of Quality. According to Song’s LinkedIn profile, he has been with Tesla since December 2018. Prior to joining Tesla, he also worked with Zhidou Electric Vehicle, Ford Motor, and General Motors.

Career Background

Song mentions in his LinkedIn description that he was Tesla’s first employee at Giga Shanghai. He is currently working on building the EV giant’s first Megapack factory outside the U.S.

Tesla’s Shanghai Megafactory

According to Tesla’s third-quarter earnings report, the company expects the Shanghai Megafactory to start shipping Megapacks in the first quarter of 2025. Tesla currently has only a Megafactory in Lathrop, California, dedicated to making powerful batteries for large-scale energy storage.

Response from Tesla

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for a statement regarding Song’s departure.

Why It Matters

Tesla’s gigafactory in Shanghai manufactures the companies’ mass-market offerings, the Model 3 and Model Y, for the domestic market as well as export to foreign markets. In October, Tesla said that the gigafactory in Shanghai reached a new production milestone of three million cars.

Production Capacity

According to Tesla’s third-quarter shareholder report, the gigafactory in Shanghai has an annual vehicle production capacity of over 950,000 vehicles, implying a daily maximum capacity of about 2,603 vehicles.

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