China banned Tesla plant expansion in Shanghai because of the company's connection with Starlink

We all know how China feels about Starlink satellites. Some scientists have even suggested setting off a nuclear explosion to incapacitate the spacecraft. And now the Chinese authorities have "suddenly" begun to fear that Tesla is connected to Starlink.

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Tesla built an electric car manufacturing plant in Shanghai several years ago. It has become the U.S. manufacturer's largest site. Cars assembled in China are sold both in China, as well as in Europe, since the capacity of the Berlin factory is still not enough to fully cover European demand.

The Shanghai plant was upgraded in 2022 and was even able to produce more than 100,000 cars during November, reaching a capacity of more than 1 million cars a year. In early 2023, Tesla wanted to expand the plant, but the plans were not destined to come to fruition. At least for the time being.

The Chinese authorities postponed the expansion of the plant because they are afraid of connections with Starlink. Is it worth reminding that SpaceX (satellite Internet provider) and Tesla have the same CEO? The plant's modernization was supposed to start in mid-January 2023 and increase capacity to 2 million cars per year.

Tesla cars are not equipped with Starlink equipment and are not connected to SpaceX's satellite Internet service. In theory, such a possibility would allow Chinese residents to bypass current restrictions. So in this regard, the authorities have nothing to fear. But they are worried about the security of user data.

By the way, China has banned the parking of electric cars of the American company in the complexes where military personnel live. Authorities fear that cameras that Tesla cars are equipped with might collect data.

Source: Bloomberg