Shanghai (ZXZC)- The buildout of Tesla's Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai has been proceeding at an impressive pace. A recent drone flyover posted on Chinese social media platform WeChat showed that the main structure and the installation of many industrial-grade air conditioning units for the general assembly building have been completed. Interestingly, workers has begun constructing a couple of tower-like black structures at the northern end, all of them are evidently taller than the rest of the factory.

(Photo source: screen shot from a drone flyover video offered by a Tesla enthusiast）

However, neither Tesla nor local media outlets have disclosed what the black structures really are. Some netizens who are familiar with Elon Musk’s fancy of science fiction instantly found out that the black “towers” strangely resemble the monoliths in Arthur C. Clarke’s Space Odyssey series. They guessed accordingly that the black structures may be the facility for R&D because in the fiction, the monoliths were built by an unseen extraterrestrial species to research and understand the universe.

Putting the science fiction aside, the Gigafactory 3 continues to be built at a miraculously fast rate as the facility only broke ground in January this year. Media outlets from China have reported the likelihood of initial Model 3 production beginning as early as September without any unexpected delays.

Local news agencies also revealed that the plant's construction continues to enjoy great support from local government. Less than two weeks ago, Shanghai Party Secretary Li Qiang paid a visit to the Gigafactory 3 complex.

The U.S.-based EV startup has held two job fairs in May and July to recruit staff for its Shanghai plant. Posts needed cover stamping, welding, painting and assembly workshops, facility maintenance, logistics departments as well as production shifting management.