Enlarge / Tesla CEO Elon Musk poses with Tesla China-made Model 3 vehicle owners during a ceremony in Shanghai, east China, on January 7, 2020. (credit: Xinhua/Ding Ting via Getty Images)
Tesla may have a new headache on its hands. On Sunday, the electric car maker announced plans to build a new battery factory in Shanghai with an annual capacity of 40 GWh, with the cells destined for "Megapack" storage batteries, each with 3.9 MWh of storage capacity. But this plan has raised eyebrows among some lawmakers, who are suspicious of Tesla's ties with the Chinese Communist Party.
"I'm concerned about this," said Representative Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.). "Tesla seems entirely dependent, A, on the largesse of the federal government via tax breaks, and B, upon access to the Chinese market," he told Reuters. Gallagher is chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, which describes itself as "committed to working on a bipartisan basis to build consensus on the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party and develop a plan of action to defend the American people, our economy, and our values."
The Select Committee on the CCP was created at the start of the year by incoming Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
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