After several delays to Tesla’s reopening of Gigafactory Shanghai, the automaker has apparently received a green light from local authorities to reopen, according to two sources familiar with the topic.
Tesla plans to resume production at its Gigafactory Shanghai on April 18, according to the sources and as reported by Reuters on Friday.
The Shanghai factory was shut down on March 28 due to lockdowns amid rising COVID-19 cases, and Tesla targeted April 4 to restart production before the factory shutdown was extended multiple times.
One of the sources reported that Tesla would start with a single production shift and slowly ramp up production by adding shifts.
Tesla Model Y, Model 3 Lead China’s Top-Selling New Energy Vehicles in March https://t.co/JAE06coQLN
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) April 12, 2022
This marks Tesla Shanghai’s longest production halt since it first opened in 2019, and it marks a reduction in production output of as much as 50,000 vehicles.
Tesla also notified some users of the lockdown via a mobile app earlier this month
Despite kickstarting production, Tesla may still face trouble acquiring necessary parts, as much of Shanghai and the surrounding area have been completely disrupted by the surging cases.
Xpeng Motors Chief Executive Officer He Xiaopeng said on Thursday that some automakers in China may have to extend production shutdowns until May, depending on the production plans of surrounding suppliers.
