Tesla suspends production at Gigafactory Shanghai for two days amid surge in COVID cases

Tesla is shutting down production at the Gigafactory Shanghai for two days this week amid a spurt in COVID-19 cases in China – though the company didn’t confirm that.

China has strict containment plans that include mass testing and isolation, which last year served the country well in limiting the spread of the virus.

But less than three months into 2022, the country already has more cases than the previous full year.

The number of new daily cases is now reaching a level not seen since the first wave of the virus in 2020

It has triggered a lockdown and mass testing in some areas to try to limit the spread.

In this context, Tesla announced to employees and suppliers that it would cease production on Wednesday and Thursday at the Gigafactory Shanghai (via Reuters):

Electric vehicle giant Tesla is suspending production at its Shanghai factory for two days, according to a notice sent internally and to suppliers, as China tightens COVID restrictions to contain the country’s latest outbreak .

The Shanghai factory operates round the clock and suppliers and Tesla employees were told in a notice reviewed by Reuters on Wednesday that production would be suspended for Wednesday and Thursday. ,

The Gigafactory Shanghai is critical to Tesla’s operations as the factory became its largest by volume last year and is exporting several Model 3 and Model Y vehicles to European markets.

Tesla did not confirm whether the shutdown was due to a rise in COVID-19 cases or restrictions put in place to contain it, but we have seen several similar factory closures over the past few days.

Both Toyota and Volkswagen recently had to announce similar shutdowns due to the pandemic.

There could also be supply chain bottlenecks behind the shutdown, as has happened recently.

As of recently, the Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai has been producing about 60,000 vehicles per month or about 2,000 per day. So even just two days of non-production can significantly impact production and extend delivery timelines.

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