Tesla’s Shanghai Factory Temporarily Halted as Overseas Supply Chain Disrupted by COVID-19

Tesla’s Shanghai factory struggled to resume operations at full capacity on May 6 as planned after the five-day national holiday, and the standstill will likely last until May 9, 36kr reported Thursday.

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Tesla insider said the Shanghai factory is maintaining its partial operations while the general assembly line is halted until May 9. This seems to be the first time that Tesla’s Shanghai factory has been explicitly affected by the intensifying COVID-19 situation overseas as it faces global supply chain constraint.

Tesla’s Shanghai factory resumed operations in early February with support from the Chinese government and was the only Tesla plant making cars following a shutdown of its other factories at that time.

Tesla’s Giga Shanghai announced that the production rate for the Made-In-China (MIC) Model 3 had exceeded 3,000 units per week in February and is now aiming for annual output of 150,000 cars in 2020.

While Tesla reported its best-ever first quarter deliveries of 88,400 cars on April 2 thanks to its productive Shanghai facility, the company’s CEO Elon Musk has been particularly critical of the lockdowns, which have impacted the normal operations of Tesla’s factories. He called for a reopening of the economy on Twitter, writing: “FREE AMERICA NOW.”