Just recently, Tesla was celebrating the opening of its Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg, however, all is not well in its plant in China.
Due to the mass testing of COVID – 19 going on at Shanghai, Tesla is being forced to shut down its Gigafactory in that city. Doors will remain closed as part of a 4 day lock down from March 28–31, and normal schedule expected to resume on April 1. Authorities from Shanghai said on Sunday it would lock down the city in two stages to carry out COVID-19 testing over nine days, the Tesla factory falls in the first half.
Tesla China Spokesperson stated “Tesla always insists on fulfilling the main-body responsibility of pandemic prevention and control, strictly implementing all related requirements, and arranging work according to the government’s policy at any time.”
Shanghai is home to Tesla’s biggest plant, hence making the 4 day shut down significant. It is the company’s main export hub, shipping Model 3 and Model Y vehicles to European and Asian countries. The factory built half of Tesla’s vehicles in 2021 which equates to more than 470,000 EVs.
Sources told Reuters that each day Giga Shanghai is closed equates to a lost production of 2,000 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. This would mean a four-day break would lead to lost production of 8,000 vehicles. Reports from Reuters also states that the plant delivered 56,515 vehicles in February, including 33,315 for export, according to the China Passenger Car Association.