Tesla will start delivering on Dec. 30 Model 3s built at its Shanghai plant, according to a report from Reuters.
The deliveries will take place just 357 days after the factory’s construction started in an empty field, a new record for global automakers in China. The 15 customers that will receive the earliest cars off the line are Tesla employees, a company representative told Reuters.
Tesla confirmed in October that it was producing vehicles in the Shanghai factory, the company’s first outside the U.S. Tesla plans to ramp up production to 250,000 units of the Model 3 and Model Y at Gigafactory 3.
The factory is an important milestone for Tesla, offering access to the largest electric car market in the world without tacking on an important tax.
A Model 3 will cost Chinese customers about 355,800 yuan ($50,000) before subsidies. Tesla is also building service centers and charging stations across China “to assure customers of standardized after-sales service,” Reuters reported.