A car in a Tesla showroom in Wuhan. Photo: AFP

Tesla (Shanghai) Co, a subsidiary of the US carmaker, is in the middle of an early-stage start-up project for a new car model which is set to be completed in March 2021, according to public information about the project. The start-up project might be Tesla's preparation for production of Model Y cars, some Chinese media outlets said. 

According to an Environmental Impact Statement on the project, which was made public on eic.sh.cn, the start-up project will involve research and experimental work related to the new car model in Tesla's existing factory buildings, including experimenting on important production facilities and manufacturing processes. 

The project should start in June 2020 (that was three months ago. If we're not sure about the dates, just delete this bit) and finish in March 2021. 

The statement didn't explicitly refer to the new car model as the Model Y, nor did Tesla make any comments on the project when contacted by the Global Times on Wednesday.

However, several domestic media reports said the early-stage start-up project indicated that Tesla is making preparations for production of Model Y cars. 

Recently, Tesla's Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai sought to hire around 1,000 employees for nine of its divisions, a move that was also interpreted as preparation work for Model Y production.

A senior Tesla executive said earlier at a press conference that the company will start rolling Model Ys off its assembly lines in early 2021. 

Feng Shiming, an independent car analyst, predicted that Model Y production capacity will be about 1,000-2,000 cars per week at the beginning, and then climb to about 4,000-5,000 cars each week.

"The Model Y's launch will trigger a buying boom in China. However, I am cautious about whether it will be as popular as the Model 3, as it is priced at a higher-than-expected level and is not so distinctive from the Model 3," Feng told the Global Times. 

Global Times