AI illustration: Tesla China factory starts production in about three years
TeslaCars & Energy
Delivered

Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai in 'about three years': delivered

Elon Musk promised Tesla's China factory producing cars within about three years by Nov 1, 2020. It happened on time.

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“The China plan is sort of maybe something like ... a rough target of start of production in about three years.”
— Elon Musk · Nov 1, 2017 · Tesla Q3 2017 earnings call transcript, 2017-11-01 ↗
What actually happened

Giga Shanghai delivered its first China-built Model 3s on Dec 30 2019, about two years after the call and ahead of the three-year target. Guardian, Dec 30 2019: first China-made Teslas delivered ↗

The Progression

Nov 1, 2017
The promise: “The China plan is sort of maybe something like ... a rough target of start of production in about three years.” · Tesla Q3 2017 earnings call transcript, 2017-11-01 ↗
Dec 30, 2019
Delivered — on time. Giga Shanghai delivered its first China-built Model 3s on Dec 30 2019, about two years after the call and ahead of the three-year target. Guardian, Dec 30 2019: first China-made Teslas delivered ↗
Today · Oct 12, 2026
Status: Delivered · on time. It happened.

On the November 2017 earnings call Elon Musk set a rough target of starting Tesla production in China in about three years. Giga Shanghai delivered its first cars in December 2019.

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Receipts

LAST CHECKED 2026-10-11

Tesla’s record

Delivered
70
53% of resolved claims delivered.
Missed
63
Deadline passed, still no-show.
Still open
37
On the clock now. All 170 Tesla claims →

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