image via Reuters
On Tuesday, March 31st, Tesla CEO and product architect Elon Musk made an announcement. Musk said that Tesla Inc., has plans to supply FDA-approved ventilators to hospitals in North America to assist in the coronavirus outbreak. As a further benevolent measure, the CEO informed hospitals that ventilators come free of charge. Furthermore, he added that Tesla would deliver to hospitals within Tesla’s delivery regions.
All this information came in the form of a recent tweet by Musk, stating, “We have extra FDA-approved ventilators. Will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Device & shipping cost are free. Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients, not stored in a warehouse. Please me or @Tesla know.”
We have extra FDA-approved ventilators. Will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Device & shipping cost are free. Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients, not stored in a warehouse. Please me or @Tesla know.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 31, 2020
As stated in the tweet, there is a simple caveat to the offer: ventilators must go to patients who need them now. Making use of the ventilators from Tesla right away shouldn’t be much of a problem. The United States marked a significant rise in coronavirus cases in recent weeks. New York City is quickly becoming a hotspot for the global pandemic. In any case, Tesla pledged to produce ventilators to assist hospitals weeks ago. The company has already delivered N95 masks to assist in the medical efforts to treat coronavirus patients.
