Tesla China’s efforts to keep the Shanghai Gigafactory open appear to have paid off, with the electric vehicle factory reopening on Friday. Giga Shanghai has taken a brief two-day hiatus from operations amid tightening restrictions in China due to the recent spike in Covid cases in the country.
Tesla’s electric vehicle factory in Shanghai resumed vehicle production in two shifts on Friday at 7 a.m. local time. The facility will once again be running around the clock, meaning Model 3 and Model Y production should begin in the coming days. A sufficient number of factory workers have reportedly returned to their posts after being placed in a nearby housing estate for 48 hours. This time was spent testing workers for possible Covid-19 infection.
Updates on Giga Shanghai’s return to work have been shared by people familiar with the electric vehicle maker, according to a report from Automotive News. The individuals who provided the information chose to remain anonymous as they were reportedly not allowed to speak to the media. Tesla China, for its part, has not yet commented on the activities of Giga Shanghai.
With Gigafactory Shanghai back to work after a two-day hiatus, Tesla’s China production this month could still be quite impressive. After all, there are 31 days in March, and a two-day close shouldn’t hurt the company’s numbers much. Of note, Tesla delivered a record number of 70,847 vehicles in December 2021, a month with the same number of days as March and also the last month of the quarter.
Tesla typically holds a quarter-end flash sale, when company workers dig deep during the last month of the quarter to maximize vehicle deliveries. While the system has allowed Tesla to post impressive numbers, CEO Elon Musk has called for an end to the practice, noting in a November 2021 email that delivery raids are burning out the company’s workers. Musk wrote that Tesla should work to cut back on the wave of deliveries that typically take place in the final weeks of the quarter.
Considering that March is the last month of the first quarter of 2022, it wouldn’t be surprising if Tesla China will make lightning-fast car deliveries in the coming days anyway. After all, Tesla China typically dedicates the last weeks of the quarter to local vehicle deliveries. And judging by the performance of the Model 3 and Model Y in the Chinese EV segment, the demand for Tesla EVs is significant.
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Tesla gigafactory in Shanghai resumes normal operations due to shipments at the end of the first quarter
