Chinese electric vehicle powerhouse BYD is pushing the boundaries of industrial ambition with its sprawling new factory in Zhengzhou, Henan province. The facility, dubbed a “megafactory,” is projected to span an astonishing 50 square miles, surpassing the 46.9 square miles of San Francisco, once fully built across eight phases.
Satellite analysis by Business Insider estimates about 8 square miles developed so far, with construction advancing between Phases Five and Eight, according to The Sun.
More than a mere production site, the complex functions as a self-sustaining city. It includes towering residential dormitories for thousands of workers, sports facilities like football fields and tennis courts, leisure areas, and an extensive internal road network. This design aims to enhance employee retention and productivity, blurring the lines between workplace and community.
Currently employing around 60,000 staff at the Zhengzhou site alone, BYD, which boasts over 900,000 global workers, plans to hire an additional 200,000 in the next three months to fuel expansion. The factory targets annual output of one million EVs, bolstering BYD’s lead in the global market, where it outsold Tesla in 2024 with 4.25 million units.
While BYD has not officially confirmed the full 50-square-mile footprint, the project’s scale, 10 times larger than Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory, signals China’s dominance in EV manufacturing. As electrification accelerates, this mega-site underscores the transformative potential of massive infrastructure investments.
