Tesla’s China factory in Shanghai is temporarily closed for four days as COVID-19 cases increase, triggering a new wave in the country. All the restrictions are applicable across the city as a new round of lockdowns is prompted. The Tesla factory has been insistent on continuing its operations, however as the city ramps up control, it was an unavoidable situation.
The city will lockdown in two stages to allow for mass testing over nine days, according to Reuters. The Tesla factory is in the half of the city where the first lockdown stage will take place, it added. That process began on Monday morning and will last until Friday morning. The Shanghai facility was responsible for half of Tesla’s global production last year, Bloomberg reported. According to the China Passenger Car Association, which Bloomberg cited, it produces about 2,000 cars a day. The factory delivered 56,515 cars, last month, of which 23,200 were for domestic consumers, and the rest were exported to Europe and other markets in Asia, the Association also reported. Employees at the plant have been informed of the shutdowns, Reuters reported. The company told Reuters that it strives to abide by epidemic prevention responsibility.
Prevention
The company told Reuters that it strives to abide by epidemic prevention responsibilities and that Shanghai’s COVID-19 measures are crucial for the development of the city. Tesla did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment. The Gigafactory – the company’s first outside the US – previously paused production for two days in mid-March to allow for mass testing and coronavirus restrictions, the newswire also reported. Last week Tesla opened its third Gigafactory, just outside Berlin, Germany following delays due to permitting issues and protests by environmentalists. Tesla told Insider that it hopes to produce 500,000 vehicles per year there. “We view the opening of Giga Berlin as one of the biggest strategic endeavors for Tesla over the last decade and should further vault its market share within Europe over the coming years as more consumers aggressively head down the EV path,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said.
According to the report, Tesla tried to create a “closed-loop” with employees that were there on Sunday, but they had to let them go back home after realizing that they “did not have enough provisions for them.” Gigafactory Shanghai is located in the part of the city that is affected by the first stage of the lockdown, which starts now and lasts until Friday. Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai was already affected by a brief shutdown earlier this month due to COVID-19 restrictions. It’s hard to determine how exactly it will affect Tesla’s performance.
