Tesla’s Giga Shanghai has reportedly begun production of the new Model 3 known as Project Highland. With the start of production it is expected that the new electric sedan will be officially released in early September.
According to information from two Tesla China insiders, Giga Shanghai has already started series production of the new Model 3, beginning earlier this week. This is only a partial switchover at first, as Tesla will reportedly be alternating between production of the old Model 3 and the new Model 3, with two days dedicated for each version. This will continue for two weeks, after which the production lines will be entirely switched over to the new version starting August 14.
Giga Shanghai started production switchover, starting this week to produce two days of current Model 3, two days of Highland production, alternate operation, and completely switch to Highland production two weeks later.
— Chris Zheng (@ChrisZheng001) August 3, 2023
According to online rumors, communication from suspected Tesla staff indicates that the current domestically produced Tesla Model 3 will be discontinued on August 14th. It is reported that the new Tesla Model 3 will be officially put into production in the third quarter.#Tesla pic.twitter.com/doTVs1c2aQ
— WuWa (@bentv_sh) August 3, 2023
While this is not official, these timelines match up with information we told you about yesterday. In Europe estimated delivery wait times have been pushed back by several months, and with European Model 3s coming from Giga Shanghai, the dates provided in these reports match up with the lead time required to ship the cars from China to Europe.
There has been no word yet on when Fremont will switch over production to the new Model 3, but that will likely happen shortly after Giga Shanghai as China’s design team has been the leader of Project Highland.
There are also implications for Canada as we now receive all Model 3 cars from China as well. Currently the Design Studio in Canada is showing new orders placed today will be delivered this month or next.
Tesla has been working on Project Highland to update the Model 3 for several years already. Test cars have been spotted on public roads in California, but they have been camouflaged to avoid giving away too many clues about what will be changing. Rumours have suggested it will be a complete overhaul of the popular electric sedan, and that the final product will look very different than what has been seen on public roads thus far.
Tesla’s Project Highland Model 3 sighting reveals front bumper camera
