The American electric car manufacturer Tesla is to begin, according to founder Elon Musk on Monday with the construction of a plant in the Chinese metropolis of Shanghai. “Look forward to the start of construction for the Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory today,” wrote Musk on Twitter. The work should stand up to the summer, the first production of cars Model 3 should already start at the end of the year. “Next year we want to reach the production in big series.”

Chinese media reported that Musk will be on Monday at the ceremony for start of construction present. Tesla had announced in the summer of 2018, to build in Shanghai, a huge factory with an annual capacity of 500,000 vehicles. The “Gigafactory” is supposed to be the largest factory outside the United States, the electric car maker and Tesla access to the booming Chinese market gain, regardless of trade disputes between the two countries.

In Shanghai, Tesla is already a centre for technology and development. The company announced its planned plants “Gigafabriken”, because both cars as well as for the electric drive batteries are to be produced. In America, Tesla assembles its cars in the state of California, the batteries produced by the company in the state of Nevada.