Tesla’s localization strategy in China has gone further.
On October 25th, Tesla’s Shanghai R&D and Innovation Center and Data Center were officially completed and will be put into use in the near future. This is Tesla’s first overseas development. A complete vehicle research and development center.
Zhu Xiaotong, President of Tesla Greater China, said: “In the process of accelerating the world’s Commitment. The completion of the R&D and Innovation Center not only pushes Tesla into a new process of localization in China, but also provides the industry with a paradigm for training localized talents, further accelerating the prosperity of China’s smart car R&D system.”
As Tesla’s first overseas R&D center based on vehicle development, the Shanghai R&D Innovation Center includes software, hardware, electronics, materials, power and energy engineering teams.
It is understood that the R&D center has a total of 28 laboratories. At this stage, it is focusing on the development of Tesla’s software, hardware, process and technology in China, while also undertaking the Chinese market. The application adaptation and standard testing of the company, and participate in the global AI machine learning related research and development work. Among them, the low-voltage electronics laboratory, firmware laboratory, and materials laboratory are the three representative Chinese localized R&D teams of the R&D center.
Among them, the low-voltage electronics laboratory focuses on various innovations in automotive intelligence, providing technical support for the intelligence and safety of Tesla products; firmware laboratory It focuses on the software development level. In addition to the product level software development, it has also achieved effective verification of parts, vehicles and product transportation, providing strong support for the factory’s start-up, mass production and rapid production ramp; materials; The laboratory is also an important part of the Shanghai R&D and Innovation Center. It has planned and implemented 4 professional directions of metal materials, polymer materials, mechanical testing and volatile organic compound testing, and comprehensively coordinated research and development in various fields for development and testing.
According to reports, the Tesla China team independently developed Tesla’s first electronic component production line assembly simulation system, which can directly simulate hundreds of electronic components on the final assembly line. The assembly process of parts to ensure that the continuously upgraded firmware version of the vehicle can always perform normally on the production line. In the future, the system will also be put into use in Tesla’s Berlin and Texas super factories.
Tesla said that in the future, Tesla’s Shanghai R&D and Innovation Center will also carry out more original development and development work on vehicles, charging equipment and energy products. Become equivalent to the U.S. R&D centerLarge-scale comprehensive R&D center.
The establishment of the vehicle R&D center reminds the outside world of the long-rumored Tesla model in China.
In July 2020, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference that Tesla will carry out a lot of original engineering development in China It is not simply copying American things directly to China, but doing original design and original engineering development in China.
In November last year, Tesla Vice President Tao Lin revealed in an interview with reporters that the China R&D Center is not just making small changes to existing models. It is to design excellent products from scratch.
In addition, Tesla also stated that Tesla has completed the relevant data center approval in accordance with the relevant requirements of the “Shanghai Data Center Construction Guidelines (2021 Edition)” Filing requirements, and build the Tesla Shanghai Super Factory data center, used to store the factory production and other Chinese operating data.
At present, Tesla has built Shanghai Super Factory, Shanghai Super Charging Pile Factory, Shanghai R&D Innovation Center and Data Center in Shanghai.
According to the previous financial report data, the Shanghai Super Factory has become Tesla’s most important export center, and Tesla will continue to increase the production capacity of the Shanghai Super Factory. It is reported that the current localization rate of parts for the Shanghai Super Factory has reached 86%. Tesla revealed in the third quarter earnings conference call that it will continue to promote the localization of parts for the Shanghai Gigafactory.