Tesla Idles Giga Shanghai as City Locks Down

Tesla production at Giga Shanghai is halted for several days this week, as China implements pandemic mitigation measures in the city with 26 million residents.Giga Shanghai had already idled production for two days this month as Chinese authorities dealt with the most serious outbreak in the country since early 2020.Tesla CEO Elon Musk tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday of this week, for a second time since late 2020, just days after visiting Germany to open Giga Berlin.Tesla is halting production at Giga Shanghai this month due to a surge in COVID-19 cases for a second time this month, as the country implements stricter mitigation protocols following a resurgence of the virus. Related Story Elon Musk Launches Tesla’s Giga Berlin Plant Tesla’s Giga Shanghai, which opened in 2019, produces vehicles for the Chinese market and for export to Europe, but does not build vehicles for North America. The plant builds the Model 3 and Model Y, but not the two older models, which are still imported from Fremont, California.The Shanghai plant had faced a two-week shutdown in the early weeks of the pandemic, in January 2020, but was able to resume production in early February of that year as the Chinese auto industry began to recover. The plant again halted production earlier this month as well for two days, as localized outbreaks began to pop up in large cities in southeast China. The current stoppage is expected to last through Thursday of this week. The city of Shanghai is currently under increased pandemic prevention measures during what is now considered to be the country’s most serious outbreak after the winter and spring of 2020. The city, home to 26 million residents, will see a lockdown this week that will apply to the eastern half of the megapolis, while the western half of the city will be under a lockdown starting April 5. Authorities in the city had not ruled out further measures that could be implemented in the month of April as the country deals with the latest outbreak, raising the possibility of further auto industry disruptions in Shanghai’s car production hub. Related Story Tesla Raises Prices on All Models The Tesla CEO revealed on Monday of this week that he has tested positive for COVID. Elon Musk had been in Germany days prior to open the Giga Berlin plant, where he met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, among other government officials. Musk tested positive for COVID once in the past, in November 2020, months after fuming at the measures implemented at the company’s Fremont plant to control the first outbreaks of the virus in the spring of 2020.Musk did not indicate which test produced this week’s positive result, or whether he had taken several tests to confirm it. The CEO’s Twitter post did suggest he had some symptoms, but did not elaborate. SIGN UP