Tesla suspends Shanghai production for second time this month

Following on from a two-day shutdown earlier this month, it’s been reported that Tesla is set to suspend production at its Shanghai GigaFactory once again today, for at least one day.

The previous shutdown was triggered by COVID-19 restrictions in China. Bloomberg reports that the forthcoming shutdown, starting today, has been deployed for the same reasons.

Shanghai was recently selected by Chinese authorities to be a test bed for a new ‘zero-COVID’ policy. This has seen city divided into two halves, with each half cycling through periods spent under lockdown.

COVID cases in the region have been steadily increasing. On Saturday 2631 asymptomatic cases were recorded; the most in a day since the initial outbreak receded and approximately 60% of China’s total asymptomatic case count for the day.

Tesla has yet to issue comment on the current production suspension.  Of the last suspension, it stated it was “actively cooperating with the government’s order for Covid tests and relevant pandemic prevention measures”.

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has had a controversial stance on COVID-19 lockdowns in the past. He opened the brand’s Fremont GigaFactory during California’s mandatory COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, in a showing of rebellion against state orders.

The China Passenger Car Association reported that Tesla’s Shanghai GigaFactory produced 56,515 vehicles in February alone. This means that each day of closure could be costing the factory roughly 2000 vehicles of output.

The closure has relevance for the New Zealand market, as it produces our entry level Tesla Model 3 variants, as well as our mid-spec Model 3 Long Range variants.

It’s been a tumultuous month for Tesla. The brand increased the prices of most of its models earlier this month reportedly in response to rising material costs and inflation triggered by the war in Ukraine.