Tesla is reportedly planning to restart production at Giga Shanghai on Monday, April 4, after a week-long shutdown due to COVID-19 restrictions in China.
UPDATE April 3 9:38am PST: Tesla has notified its workers and suppliers that it will not be able to resume production on Monday as planned. The notice did not specify when they expect to try again. (via Reuters)
According to two unnamed sources that spoke with Reuters, Tesla is expecting some of its workers to be released from lockdown, giving it enough personnel to resume production.
Production was shutdown on March 28 as the first lockdown period began for areas in the east of the Huangpu River, where the factory is located.
The shutdown was originally supposed to last four days, but a complete lockdown of the city imposed by the local government forced Tesla to cancel plans to resume production on Friday and Saturday.
Given the fluid nature of the situation, the sources said the plans could still change prior to Monday.
If Tesla is able to resume production on Monday, it would be one of the longest shutdowns of Giga Shanghai since it opened in late 2019.
The factory has become a critical piece of Tesla’s puzzle, producing nearly half of the automaker’s total volume last year.
Giga Shanghai is also the company’s primary vehicle export hub, sending more than 100,000 vehicles to other markets last year.
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