Which Tesla factory became the company’s first Gigafactory outside the United States?

Gigafactory Shanghai became Tesla’s first Gigafactory outside the United States.

Construction began in 2019 in Shanghai’s Lingang industrial area, and the factory began producing vehicles later that year. It was Tesla’s first major manufacturing site in China and the first wholly foreign-owned vehicle factory approved under China’s changing automotive-investment rules.

The site initially produced Tesla Model 3 vehicles and later added Model Y production. Local manufacturing reduced shipping distances and allowed Tesla to supply the Chinese market and export vehicles to other regions.

Gigafactory Shanghai is also called Gigafactory 3. It should not be confused with Gigafactory Nevada, Tesla’s earlier battery and vehicle-production facility, or Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg, the company’s European factory.