Tesla: Gigafactory site secured in Shanghai

Tesla announced Wednesday that it has secured an 860,000 square meter plot of land in Shanghai to build its first overseas Gigafactory.Getty/Kevork Djansezian

• Tesla announced Wednesday that it has secured an 860,000 square meter plot of land in Shanghai, China, to build its first overseas Gigafactory.
• In July, the car maker signed a deal with Shanghai authorities to open a plant in the Chinese city with an annual capacity of 500,000 cars, and said it would raise $2 billion to fund the construction, Reuters reported.
• Shares are gaining ground on the news, up about 1.5%.
• Watch Tesla trade in real time here.

Tesla is gaining around early Wednesday after the company announced it has secured a site in Shanghai, China, to build its first overseas Gigafactory.  Shares were up about 1.5% ahead of the opening bell.

The electric-car maker said Wednesday in a Chinese social media post that it has signed an agreement with the Shanghai government for an 860,000 square meter plot of land for a Gigafactory, hoping to take on the world’s largest auto market.

“Securing this site in Shanghai, Tesla’s first Gigafactory outside of the United States, is an important milestone for what will be our next advanced, sustainably developed manufacturing site,” Robin Ren, Tesla’s vice president of worldwide sales, said in a statement.

In July, Tesla signed a long-anticipated deal with Shanghai authorities to open a plant in the Chinese city with an annual capacity of 500,000 cars, which would double the size of its global manufacturing and help lower the pricetag of Tesla cars sold in China, according to Reuters.

Tesla started hiring for the new Shanghai factory in August, and said that it would raise capital from Asian debt markets to fund the construction, which will cost around $2 billion, Reuters added.

Tesla was down 12% this year through Tuesday.

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