Tesla Gigafactory by VIN — Decode 5YJ, 7SAY, LRW, XP7 in Seconds.

Read the first three characters of the 17-character Tesla VIN — the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI) under the SAE J853 standard. Tesla uses four distinct WMIs: 5YJ for Gigafactory California (Fremont), 7SAY for Gigafactory Texas (Austin), LRW for Gigafactory Shanghai, and XP7 for Gigafactory Berlin. Enter any Tesla VIN into the free Gigafactory decoder on this page and the lookup returns the plant name, country, opening year, and the Tesla models built at that Gigafactory. No two Tesla plants share a WMI, so the first three characters uniquely identify the assembly facility.

WMI 5YJ identifies Gigafactory California in Fremont, California — Tesla's original assembly plant, opened in 2010 inside the former NUMMI / GM-Toyota joint venture facility. Fremont builds the Tesla Model S, Model 3, Model X, and the pre-2022 Model Y. It is the only Gigafactory that builds Model S and Model X. Any Tesla VIN beginning with 5YJ is a Fremont build and is a standard North-American market vehicle with full Tesla USA warranty coverage.

WMI 7SAY identifies Gigafactory Texas in Austin, Texas — Tesla's flagship plant since 2022. Austin builds the post-2022 Model Y and the Cybertruck. All Tesla Cybertrucks share the 7SAY WMI; if a listing claims Cybertruck but the VIN does not start with 7SAY, the listing is wrong or the truck is mis-identified. Austin Teslas are standard North-American market vehicles with full Tesla USA warranty coverage, identical to Fremont (5YJ) builds in service and warranty terms.

WMI LRW identifies Gigafactory Shanghai, Tesla's plant in China that opened in December 2019. Shanghai is Tesla's highest-volume Gigafactory and primarily serves China, EU export, and APAC export markets with Model 3 and Model Y. When a Shanghai-built Tesla appears in a US listing, it is almost always a gray-market import — usually without Tesla USA warranty coverage, with a Supercharger billing region defaulted outside North America, and sometimes without EPA compliance certification. Verify Tesla USA warranty status and EPA paperwork directly with Tesla before any LRW Tesla purchase in the US.

WMI XP7 identifies Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg in Grünheide, Germany — Tesla's first European plant, opened in March 2022. Berlin builds the EU-market Model Y. Berlin-built Teslas are extremely rare in US listings; when they appear, they are usually expat returns or import-broker units carrying European-spec lighting, regional Supercharger defaults, and EU regulatory compliance rather than US-spec. Treat any XP7 VIN in a US listing as an import question and verify Tesla USA warranty, EPA paperwork, and lighting conversion before purchase.

Yes, significantly. Fremont (5YJ) and Austin (7SAY) Teslas are sold by Tesla USA with the standard 4-year / 50,000-mile Basic Vehicle Limited Warranty plus the 8-year battery and drive unit warranty. Shanghai (LRW) and Berlin (XP7) Teslas sold in other markets carry equivalent warranties in their original sale region, but those warranties do not automatically transfer to a US owner who imports the vehicle. Tesla service centers in the US can sometimes honor the underlying battery warranty on imported units, but Basic Vehicle warranty and Supercharger billing may differ. Always confirm coverage with Tesla directly before purchasing an LRW or XP7 unit in the US.

The Gigafactory decoder reads the WMI from the 17-character VIN as the seller presents it. If the VIN has been cloned — a thief copying a legitimate VIN onto a different vehicle — the decoder will still return the legitimate VIN's Gigafactory even though the physical car may be a different make, model, or build entirely. That is why a Gigafactory decode should always be paired with a physical VIN check: compare the dashboard VIN to the door jamb sticker, the title, the MyTesla app, and any visible body badges (especially Cybertruck = Austin / 7SAY only). Mismatches between the WMI and the visible body type are a strong cloning flag.

Every Tesla prints the VIN in at least five places. The fastest is the lower corner of the windshield on the driver's side — look through the glass from outside the vehicle. The driver-side door jamb sticker is the second-easiest and is required on every Tesla sold in the US by federal law. The Tesla title document and the insurance ID card both print the VIN, and the MyTesla mobile app shows it on the vehicle profile screen alongside firmware version, Autopilot hardware revision, and Supercharger entitlement. Any of these sources is enough to decode the Gigafactory from the first three characters.