Tesla on Sunday exported a new shipment of more than 4,000 vehicles from its Shanghai Gigafactory — reports local publication Knews (via CnEVPost).
This was Giga Shanghai’s second shipment, both this week and since the factory resumed production on April 19 following a protracted suspension of operations as the city went into a COVID-19 lockdown. Tesla shipped out its first batch of China-made electric vehicles (EVs) since resuming production, a total of 4,767 units, on Wednesday.
Production at Tesla’s Chinese Gigafactory in Shanghai had been paused since March 28 due to lockdowns imposed by the local government as China grappled with its largest COVID-19 outbreak in two years.
Assembly lines at Giga Shanghai were silent for 24 days (including another 2-day pause from mid-March). At a run rate of about 2,100 cars a day, Tesla lost out on over 50,000 units as a result.
Even when Tesla was allowed to restart production at Giga Shanghai, it had to do so with a fraction of workers under a “closed-loop” system. Giga Shanghai had an output of only 10,757 units in April, according to data released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
The COVID-19 situation in Shanghai has lightened up significantly since Giga Shanghai resumed operations, and continues to improve. Tesla was even whitelisted to resume more than 80% production at the factory earlier this month.
The local government is also helping companies speed up deliveries, with local customs constantly optimizing their work patterns to make sure that car exports from the Nangang terminal go smoothly.
That said, the company has a lot of ground to regain. Tesla hopes to reinstate double shifts at Giga Shanghai any day now, which should bring production back up to pre-lockdown levels. The EV maker’s output is trailing far behind demand right now, and CEO Elon Musk recently suggested that the company might have to stop taking orders altogether for some models.
