Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai has now officially restarted production with reportedly 8,000 employees, who will be living and sleeping at the factory in a closed-loop system as there are still a lot of restrictions.
A slow production ramp is to be expected.
Shanghai has seen a rise in COVID-19 infections over the last month, and in an attempt to curb the growth, the authorities implemented some drastic lockdown measures that have been in place for weeks now.
Those measures have been affecting many businesses, including Tesla’s critical Gigafactory in the giant Chinese city.
The automaker had to shut down the plant on March 28 due to difficulties securing workers and the supply of components from suppliers also affected by the measures.
Tesla was supposed to restart production the next weekend, but it couldn’t make it work.
The automaker was expected to once again attempt a restart of production during the week, but it couldn’t make it work again.
The second phase of the two-phase city lockdown was supposed to end on April 7, but the authorities have extended it indefinitely amid continued spread despite the measures in place.
Last week, we learned that Tesla was now aiming to reopen Gigafactory Shanghai on April 18 after a three-week shutdown.
Yesterday, we reported that the production restart was delayed to today April 19th.
Tesla confirmed the production restart in a TV interview today and said that 8,000 workers are returning to work:
While the battery and motor production lines are apparently back at full speed, the overall vehicle production is expected to ramp up slowly over weeks and even months.
At a production capacity of around 2,000 vehicles per day, Tesla is expected to have missed out already on over 40,000 vehicles this quarter, and it could see production down by tens of thousands more during the ramp-up.
Like other companies in Shanghai, Tesla is adopting the ‘closed-loop’ system with employees sleeping at the factory to limit outside contact as Shanghai still has some strict restrictions to limit COVID-19 spread.
Tesla is going to supply sleeping bags, mattresses, and sleeping quarters as well as entertainment.
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