Tesla opens $200m battery factory in China despite trade war tensions - Tesla opens first energy storage gigafactory outside the US

The opening of the $200 million Megapack battery plant in Shanghai highlights Elon Musk’s unusual position as Tesla CEO and Trump administration adviser.

Tesla's gigafactory for EV production in Lin-gang, which is also the first plant of its kind that the US EV maker has built overseas, was the largest foreign-invested manufacturing project in Shanghai with a total investment of 50 billion yuan.

Storyline Tesla's Megafactory in Shanghai begins production of Megapack batteries (Voice_over) Tesla's new Megafactory, which produces energy storage products, officially went into production. The Shanghai facility is Tesla's first Megafactory outside the United States and marks another major investment in China following the Gigafactory Shanghai car manufacturing plant.

SHANGHAI, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. carmaker Tesla's new Megafactory in Shanghai, dedicated to manufacturing energy-storage batteries known as Megapacks, launched production on Tuesday, marking a significant expansion of the company's presence in China.

After nine months of construction, Tesla's Megapack battery factory in Shanghai went into operation on February 11, with significant importance for both the US-based electric carmaker and China's massive energy storage industry. The launch of the new plant was a bright spot in a week of woes for Tesla.