Is Tesla a Domestic Car?
2 Answers
Tesla is not a domestic car. Tesla is an American automobile manufacturer, but one of its models has been domestically produced, which is called the Model 3. Other Tesla models have not been domestically produced. The domestically produced Tesla Model 3 is not considered a domestic car but rather a joint-venture car. The Model 3 is a mid-size sedan produced by Tesla, with a wheelbase of 2875 mm, and dimensions of 4694 mm in length, 1850 mm in width, and 1443 mm in height. Here is additional information about the Model 3: 1. The Model 3 comes in three configurations: Standard Range Rear-Wheel Drive, Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive, and Performance All-Wheel Drive: (1) The Rear-Wheel Drive models are single-motor vehicles, with the motor located on the rear axle. The motor in the Rear-Wheel Drive models has a maximum power of 202 kW and a maximum torque of 375 Nm. (2) The All-Wheel Drive models are dual-motor vehicles, with motors on both the front and rear axles. The total motor power in the All-Wheel Drive models is 340 kW, with a maximum torque of 639 Nm. 2. All Tesla Model 3 variants use ternary lithium batteries, which are lighter and have higher energy density.
When I first bought my domestically-made Tesla Model Y, I also wondered about this issue. Actually, Tesla is an American brand, but many of the cars we buy in China are manufactured at the Shanghai Gigafactory, using CATL batteries, locally sourced body panels, and Chinese workers. So strictly speaking, it's a hybrid. If you look at the Model 3s and Ys on the street, most have a 'Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.' badge, and the tariffs are about 100,000 RMB cheaper than the imported versions. A friend of mine who works at the Tesla factory says the assembly line is even more advanced than in the U.S., with over 2,000 cars rolling off the line daily. Even Europeans come to buy China-made Teslas. As for drawbacks, the seat padding in the domestic version is a bit thinner than in the imported ones, but the infotainment system is optimized for China—the voice assistant understands commands like 'Go to People's Square to eat pan-fried buns.'
