Elon Musk has repeatedly made it clear that the high level of localization of the production of electric vehicles leads to strong differences in the design and equipment of cars assembled at different sites. While the plant is under construction in the vicinity of Berlin, Tesla begins shipping Model 3 electric vehicles assembled in Shanghai to the European market, although cars for local customers were previously imported from the United States.

As Electrek notes, new customers in Europe have already experienced increased waiting times for certain models of electric vehicles. It takes more time to ship cars from China to Europe than from the USA. Selected customers in France have already been notified that the electric vehicles they order will be of Chinese origin.

Tesla Model 3 for the Chinese market recently switched to LFP traction batteries with iron phosphate, which is manufactured by the local company CATL. They are cheaper than imported ones, but the first measurements showed that the Model 3s based on LFP batteries are 130 kg heavier than their predecessors. Elon Musk seeks to dispel consumer doubts about the range provided by this type of battery electric vehicles. According to him, cars in this configuration are in no way inferior to the versions on the so-called NMC-batteries in terms of power reserve.

According to Reuters, Tesla has already begun delivering Chinese-assembled Model 3 electric vehicles to more than ten European countries, including Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland. The plant under construction in the vicinity of Berlin will begin to issue products only next year. Elon Musk promised that, over time, the production of not only Model 3 and Model Y, but also two new more affordable models will be launched, one of which will cost $ 25,000. Traction batteries for German-assembled cars will be produced in close proximity, they will already use the promising size 4680.