California Governor Gavin Newsom had a tour of Tesla’s electric vehicle production hub in Shanghai on Sunday during his trip to China. According to Tesmanian, Governor Newsom praised the Giga Shanghai for benefitting China and the US economy.
The Governor also got a chance to test drive the revamped Tesla Model 3 that currently only undergoes production at the Giga Shanghai.
As EV-a2z reported, Tesla officially launched the model in multiple markets across the Asia-Pacific and European regions. In fact, the first batch of deliveries has already arrived in Europe.
China-US cooperation advantages
Governor Newsom was impressed by Gigafactory Shanghai’s role in strengthening the China-US partnership, indicating that “during the day, the engineers (in Shanghai) are working on the new models, while during the evening, they shift over and transfer to the US because they are awake. So this rotation, 24/7 collaborative spirit, back and forth, is healthy,” Xinhua reported.
The California Governor even referred to the Giga Shanghai’s significant part in the two countries’ collaboration as “demonstrable,” delivering new jobs and encouraging technological advancements like the full self-driving electric cars and artificial intelligence.
“The advantages here are self-evident, not only in terms of the supply chains but also the technology in terms of improving quality constantly. That is beneficial to both countries, certainly to the state of California.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom
Agenda
Teslarati also indicated that the California Governor’s intention in visiting the Asian country is to discuss matters related to climate goals.
The trip aims to determine potential cooperation between China and California on climate-related initiatives. It is unsurprising, considering that China continues to dominate most of the supply chain network for electric vehicle battery materials.
The Governor officially inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the climate change network, prioritizing offshore wind development.
Apart from the Giga Shanghai visit, Governor Newsom also visited Shenzen, which operates a fleet of all-electric buses with a total of 16,000 units. He also went to Jiangsu, which houses an offshore wind farm.
California targets
California aims to generate 25 GWh of offshore wind power by 2045, sufficient to cover approximately 13% of the state’s power supply. It can reportedly supply enough electricity to power about 25 million households.
In addition, the state also aims to ban new sales of internal combustion engine-powered (ICE) vehicles starting in 2035.
California is more progressive in terms of EV uptake than the entire US industry. However, China continues to lead the battery material mining and production industry worldwide.
UK firm TechInsights revealed that China dominates the following battery material processing globally:
- around 80% cobalt
- 76% natural graphite
- 56% synthetic graphite
- 60% lithium compounds
- 50% sodium hydroxide
Governor Newsom “imagines” meeting with Tesla Chief Elon Musk when he gets back to the US to talk about his inputs in Giga Shanghai. He even noted Tesla’s decision to relocate its engineering and R&D offices back to Palo Alto, California, in early 2023. The state also houses the EV giant’s production hub in Fremont.
