Tesla delays Shanghai plant plan to restart production

SHANGHAI Reuters -- Tesla Inc has delayed its plan to restore production at its Shanghai plant to levels before the COVID 19 lockdown by at least a week, according to an internal memo seen by the city's COVID 19 lockdown.

The U.S. electric car maker originally aimed to increase output at its Shanghai plant to 2,600 cars a day from May 16, according to a memo released earlier this month by Reuters.

The memo said that it plans to stick to one shift for the current week for its Shanghai plant with a daily output of around 1,200 units. It also stated that it would increase output to 2,600 units per day from May 23.

A person familiar with the matter said that Tesla needs to double the number of workers living and sleeping near production lines to maintain closed-loop operations.

Only companies in Shanghai are allowed to reopen if they are able to operate under such arrangement, which requires workers to be isolated.

The person said that there were still uncertainties over supplies, as factories of suppliers and logistics in Shanghai and surrounding areas have yet to be restored to normal.

Tesla didn't respond to a request for comment. The person did not want to be identified as the matter was private.

On the same day last week, Tesla operated its Shanghai plant well below capacity, indicating the problems factories face trying to ramp up output under a tighter COVID 19 lockdown.

After declaring that 15 of its 16 districts had eliminated cases outside of quarantine areas, Shanghai hopes to resume normal life from June 1, a city official said on Monday.