Rumor: Tesla To Begin Shipping Cars Made In Shanghai To Asian And European Markets

September 11th, 2020 by Steve Hanley

An unconfirmed report by Bloomberg News says that Tesla’s factory in Shanghai will begin manufacturing Model 3 sedans for export to other Asian nations and Europe in the 4th quarter of this year. Deliveries are expected to begin early in the 1st quarter of 2021. Tesla has declined to confirm the report.

pic.twitter.com/ZSdxeMZy9C

— Jacob Rasmussen (@J_RRasmussen) September 11, 2020

Assuming the rumor is true, what does it tell us? For one, it may signal the availability of less expensive cars in markets such as Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand as well as Europe because the Chinese made cars could use LFP battery packs, which cost less than conventional lithium-ion batteries. They may also be less expensive to ship from Shanghai than from California.

It also could mean that right-hand drive cars intended for the UK and other former British colonies will be built exclusively in China, freeing the Fremont factory from having to produce them, according to Tesmanian. Twitter user Mark Young posted this comment: “When I test drove the Model 3 here in Australia a couple weeks ago the Tesla rep said we would more than likely get the Y in right hand drive from Shanghai early to mid 2021.”

The Bloomberg report doesn’t say so specifically, but it is known Tesla China is pushing forward with an expansion of the Shanghai factory to manufacture Tesla’s Model Y SUV, which could then be exported as well to those other markets. That, in turn, would also allow the Fremont factory to concentrate on Model Y production for North America. It is expected a less expensive single-motor version of the Model Y will be available soon, possibly before the end of this year.

Fast Chargers In Germany

With production at its new factories in Germany and Austin scheduled to begin next year, Tesla is positioning itself to continue being the leader of the EV revolution everywhere around the world. And it has no intention of slowing down. Also in today’s Tesla news, the company has unveiled a new V3 fast charging facility in Berlin and hinted that other cities in Germany could be getting similar installations soon, perhaps by the end of this year. The Version 3 equipment is capable of adding 75 miles of range to a Model 3 in as little as 5 minutes.

“Now, as part of our commitment to make Tesla ownership easy and convenient for everyone including those without immediate access to home or workplace charging, we are expanding out supercharging network into city centers,” Jeroen van Tilburg, manager of charging infrastructure for Tesla in Europe, told the press. He added the company still believes in slower charging solutions for work place and residential charging but wants to provide a faster option, especially for Tesla drivers in urban areas who do not have access to conventional charging equipment.

In other news from Germany, the economic minister for the state of Brandenburg told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper last week the new Tesla factory in German could potentially create 40,000 jobs in his state, according to Yahoo! Finance.

Liquid Cooled Charging Cables

Fast chargers and their cables can get uncomfortably hot when in operation. As power increase so does the heat generated. Tesla has been experimenting with liquid cooled charging cables since 2015 and it has just filed for a patent on a new design.

According to Patent Swarm, “One embodiment is an electric vehicle charging cable that includes a non-conductive liquid heat transfer medium. The charging cable may include a cooling conduit for transferring the coolant or liquid heat transfer media from a cooling system near a charging base to a connector which interfaces with a charging port on the electric vehicle. In this embodiment the connector includes an internal chamber adjacent the terminal ends of a pair of charging conductors which carry the electric current through the charging cable.

“In use, the non-conductive liquid heat transfer media exits the cooling conduit near the internal chamber and then contacts one or both charging conductors to remove heat from those terminal ends of the conductors within the chamber. The size and the dimensions of the internal chamber are designed to have a fairly small hydrodynamic diameter such that a relatively rapid flow of the liquid heat transfer media will interact with the charging conductors.”

No matter where you look in the transportation sector, Tesla is leading the way — most electric cars sold, fastest chargers, largest charging network, longest range. People tend to focus on monthly sales, which is an important consideration, but it sometimes obscures all the other things going on in the Tesla universe that will lead to lower emissions from cars and trucks.

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Tags: LFP battery, liquid cooled charging cable, right hand drive Tesla, Tesla China, Tesla exports

About the Author

Steve Hanley Steve writes about the interface between technology and sustainability from his homes in Florida and Connecticut or anywhere else the Singularity may lead him. You can follow him on Twitter but not on any social media platforms run by evil overlords like Facebook.

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Published on September 11th, 2020 | by Steve Hanley