Tesla Model 3 Highland to enter mass production of 10,000 units a month

According to sources at the Gigafactory in Shanghai, the production line retooling that idled it for a few weeks and resulted in a rare shipment slump for Tesla in July has been completed. The retooling took time as Tesla needed to install the gigacasting and other equipment needed to make its cheaper Model 3 Highland redesign.

The gigacasting method and removing of redundant parts may have tamed its production costs by as much as 14% which could translate to a lower Model 3 Highland price when it is released to market in October.

Tesla has reportedly pegged the initial production capacity of the Model 3 Highland refresh at 10,000 units a month and may end up with a lot of 7,000 Highlands in August alone. The start of pilot mass production at Giga Shanghai bodes well for the expected Model 3 Highland release date in October.

Tesla's Fremont factory should be starting Highland production soon after Giga Shanghai as well, as test mules of the mid-cycle refresh have already been spotted numerous times on the roads in California.

The new Tesla Model 3 Highland is expected to come with a longer body made of gigacast sections, more aggressive headlight styling, and redesigned blinker system. Under the hood, it is expected to receive a larger 66 kWh M3P battery by CATL that will allow longer range on a charge. Inside, the Tesla Model 3 Highland may come with ventilated seats as well as a new yoke steering wheel as an added option. 

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