STORY: Tesla's "milestone" Shanghai battery factory breaks ground
SHOOTING TIME: May 23, 2024
DATELINE: May 23, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:40
LOCATION: SHANGHAI, China
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the break-ground ceremony
2. STANDUP (English): ZHOU RUI, Xinhua correspondent
3. various of the break-ground ceremony
4. various of Tesla's gigafactory in Shanghai
5. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): TAO LIN, Vice president of Tesla
6. various of the break-ground ceremony
7. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MIKE SNYDER, Senior Director, Energy & Charging, Tesla
8. various of Tesla signing a deal with Shanghai Lingang Economic Development (Group) Co., Ltd.
9. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): LU YU, Official of Lin-gang Special Area Administration, Shanghai FTZ
10. various of Tesla's gigafactory in Shanghai

STORYLINE:

STANDUP (English): ZHOU RUI, Xinhua correspondent
"A Tesla Shanghai mega factory started construction today (Thursday) here in China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ)."

The factory will manufacture Tesla's energy-storage batteries, Megapacks, a project hailed by the company as a "milestone."

The latest move underscores Tesla's commitment to investing in the world's second-largest economy.

The new plant spans an area of approximately 200,000 square meters, with a total investment of around 1.45 billion yuan (about 203.94 million U.S. dollars), according to the administration of Lin-gang Special Area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone.

It is the company's second plant in Shanghai, following the inauguration of its gigafactory in 2019 which involved an initial investment of over 50 billion yuan.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): TAO LIN, Vice president of Tesla
"Our gigafactory in Shanghai has been running smoothly. We have laid out as many supply chains as possible within a 4-hour drive from the Shanghai factory, which will greatly improve the convenience of our entire production process, and it will also benefit the operation of the Megapack factory."

The Megapack factory is expected to begin mass production in the first quarter of 2025, with an initial capacity of 10,000 Megapack units a year.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MIKE SNYDER, Senior Director, Energy & Charging, Tesla
"With our Shanghai mega factory currently under construction and initial production starting later this year, we see a great opportunity to manufacture Megapack products in China to compete in the China market directly and, of course, to ship globally."

After the ceremony, Tesla signed a deal with Shanghai Lingang Economic Development (Group) Co., Ltd., securing the first batch of orders for its Megapacks in China.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): LU YU, Official of Lin-gang Special Area Administration, Shanghai FTZ
"Tesla's energy storage project is very significant for Lin-gang Special Area of Shanghai FTZ and for a new round of industrial development in the area. We anticipate that this project will achieve win-win results for both Lin-gang Special Area of Shanghai FTZ and Tesla."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Shanghai, China.
(XHTV)