Tesla is considering exporting electric cars made in China to the U.S., two people with knowledge of the plans told JEE News, a reversal that would undermine the automaker’s deep cost advantage at its Shanghai plant and the Chinese will reflect sluggish consumer demand.
Tesla is studying whether parts made by its China-based suppliers comply with local regulations in North America, the people said, and if they do, the China-made Model Y and Model Y will be tested as soon as next year. Can ship Model 3 cars for sale there. who declined to be named because the matter is private.
It could also open a channel for exports to Canada, one of the people said.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Musk replied “false” without elaborating in a Twitter post after the story’s release.
Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory has the capacity to produce 1.1 million electric vehicles per year following an upgrade earlier this year, making it Tesla’s most productive manufacturing facility.
The Shanghai plant builds the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover for sale in China and for export to markets including Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia.
Until recently, Tesla was selling or sending every vehicle it produced in Shanghai for export, but inventory levels rose by the largest margin ever in October, according to data from brokerage CMBI. .
In addition, factors including the weakening of the yuan against the U.S. dollar, low raw material prices in China and rising Tesla and new car prices in the United States have combined to make exports from China to the U.S. potentially less competitive. Given, people with knowledge of the projects said.
If implemented, the plan could create new complications for American buyers. Under the terms of a new electric vehicle subsidy and production incentive plan signed into law by US President Joe Biden, the incentives available to an individual vehicle may vary depending on whether it was imported.
It can also be politically controversial. Tesla is widely seen as one of the big beneficiaries of the Biden administration’s Inflationary Reduction Act (IRA), which offers up to $7,500 in rebates on EV purchases aimed at automakers. It is forced to reduce dependence on China.
Tesla Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn told investors last month that the automaker is “very well positioned to receive a significant portion” of the incentives offered under the IRA for EVs and batteries for energy storage. .
Until now, Tesla’s strategy has been to build cars sold in North America at its plants in Fremont, California, and Austin, Texas.
The California plant, Tesla’s first, produces the Model S, Model 3 sedan and Model X and Model Y crossovers. The Texas plant, which opened earlier this year, makes the Model Y and will produce Tesla’s upcoming Cybertruck.
Tesla is also ramping up production at a plant it opened in Berlin earlier this year. Production at the Berlin plant will reduce the need for some exports from China, one of the sources said.
At the same time, the price gap between Tesla cars sold in China and the United States continues to widen, reflecting both US pricing and new discounts in China.
In China, where CMBI analysts have warned of an impending “price war,” Tesla cut starter prices for the Model 3 and Model Y in China by 9 percent last month.
On Monday, it offered an additional discount for buyers who take delivery this month and purchase insurance from one of Tesla’s partners.
Tesla sells the Model Y for the equivalent of $49,344 in China, compared to $65,990 in the US. Chinese-made cars face a 27.5 percent U.S. tariff, while light-duty trucks face a 25 percent tariff.
China, the world’s largest auto market, imposes a 15 percent tariff on imported vehicles.
In 2018, before Tesla’s Shanghai plant began operating, Chief Executive Elon Musk asked then-President Donald Trump to raise tariffs on cars imported from China to the US to achieve a “fair result”. Where both parties were equal and “equal”. Moderate” tariff.
Tesla would not be the first American automaker to ship Chinese-made vehicles to the US. General Motors has imported the Buick Envision SUV and unsuccessfully applied for an exemption from the 25% US tariff imposed by the Trump administration.
