On December 18, Song Gang, Vice President of Manufacturing at Tesla and Director of the Shanghai Gigafactory, has left Tesla after reportedly submitting his resignation months ago.

According to sources close to Envision Energy, Song Gang will be joining Envision Technology Group's subsidiary, Envision Energy.

As of the time of reporting, Tesla has not yet responded to this news.

Source: Envision Energy

Envision Energy is a global leader in green technology and renewable energy solutions, named to “2024 TIME 100 Most Influential Companies” in June of this year.

Song will be replaced by Fei Wenjin, Senior Director of Automotive and Parts Quality.

Local news indicate that Fei Wenjin, who is responsible for the quality department, is familiar with the entire production process and is highly motivated.

Song Gang’s Departure

On December 18, media reports indicated that Song Gang had submitted his resignation months ago, with December 18 being his last working day at Tesla.

Tesla had yet to officially appoint a new director for the Shanghai Gigafactory, and Song Gang is reportedly planning to join a local emerging automotive brand currently facing production capacity challenges.

Source: Tesla China

Song Gang was the first employee of the Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory, joining Tesla in 2018.

Before joining Tesla, he worked at Ford and SAIC-GM. He is also a representative of the 16th Shanghai People's Congress.

At Tesla, Song Gang led the Shanghai Gigafactory to achieve localized production of the Model 3 within a year.

Song also spearheaded the launch of the second phase of the Shanghai factory in 2020 to establish domestic production of the Model Y.

Currently, the localization rate of parts at the Shanghai Gigafactory Phase II has exceeded 95%.

As Tesla's first overseas factory, the Shanghai Gigafactory began construction in January 2019 and completed the first batch of Model 3 deliveries on December 30 of the same year.

In October this year, the Gigafactory completed the production of its 3 millionth vehicle, with one-third of these vehicles being exported to Europe, Asia-Pacific, and other overseas markets. It is reported that the Model 3 and Model Y sold in the Australian market are all produced at the Shanghai Gigafactory.

According to the China Passenger Car Association, the Shanghai Gigafactory's exports accounted for about 30.2% of Tesla’s global production from January to November this year.

Besides the vehicle manufacturing plant, Song Gang also participated in the establishment and launch of Tesla's battery and motor teams, including the Tesla Shanghai Megafactory.

Earlier this year, Song Gang expressed his ambition to make Tesla's Shanghai Megafactory a global benchmark.

Source: Electrek

On May 23 of this year, the Tesla Shanghai Megafactory began construction in the Lingang New Area of Shanghai.

As of the end of September, the main plant construction progress had exceeded 60%, and it is expected to start production in the first quarter of next year.

The factory plans to produce 10,000 commercial energy storage batteries (Megapacks) annually, with a storage capacity of nearly 40 GWh, supplying the global market.

Given his extensive experience in manufacturing, Song Gang's departure is significant.

Xiaomi and NIO Speculations

As Xiaomi SU7 orders rapidly increased, production capacity has become a bottleneck.

The Xiaomi Auto app shows that the delivery cycle for the Xiaomi SU7 is currently 21-24 weeks. Xiaomi Auto relies solely on its Beijing Yizhuang Smart Factory for production.

Although the second phase of the factory is under construction and planned to have an annual capacity of 300,000 units, it will not be operational until July next year, and new factories often require ramp-up time.

On December 19, Xiaomi's Public Relations General Manager, Wang Hua, addressed rumors on Weibo regarding Song Gang, stating, "Everyone is talking about Song Gang, and he is indeed excellent, but our Xiaomi Auto Factory's Director Ji Guowei is also outstanding and more than capable!"

In addition to Xiaomi, industry insiders also speculated that Song Gang might join NIO's sub-brand, Onvo.

Since the launch of its first mass-produced car, the L60, in late September, Onvo has faced production capacity shortages and challenges in delivering vehicles to customers.

NIO CEO Li Bin revealed that Onvo's delivery target is 10,000 units by December this year, 16,000 units in January next year, and 20,000 units by March.

However, insurance data shows that Onvo L60's delivery volume in November was just over 5,000 units, indicating significant challenges in ramping up production capacity.