Shanghai authorities stepped up to help Tesla reopen factory, letter shows

Shanghai authorities stepped up to help Tesla reopen factory, letter shows


A truck leaves the Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory on April 25, 2021 in Shanghai, China.

Visual China Group | Getty Images

Shanghai authorities helped Tesla transport more than 6,000 workers and carry out necessary disinfection work to reopen its factory last month amid the city’s lockdown, according to a letter that Tesla sent to local officials and seen by Reuters.

The letter, dated May 1 and addressed to local authorities in Shanghai’s Lingang Special Area, outlined the lengths to which the city went to help Tesla, indicating the U.S. automaker’s importance to Shanghai as the city tries to restart business while curbing the spread of Covid-19.

Tesla reopened its factory in Shanghai on April 19 after a 22-day stoppage, with state media widely covering the event.

In its letter, Tesla thanked Lingang officials for their support, and described how a company run by the Lingang Group had arranged buses to transport 6,000 workers of Tesla and its suppliers to the factory, and carried out disinfection work needed for the company to enter “closed loop” production.

“They fought for three consecutive days, working round the clock and non-stop to guarantee our company’s workers could return to the factory,” Tesla said in the letter.

The letter also outlined how Tesla planned to further expand its plant in Shanghai, confirming a Reuters report in February.

The company will build a new plant on nearby land in the same area, which is poised to add an annual capacity of 450,000 cars, including Model 3s and Model Ys, becoming “the world’s largest vehicle export hub,” the letter said.

The Shanghai plant delivered 484,100 vehicles throughout 2021, Tesla has said previously.

Tesla and the Shanghai government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Numerous factories were shut after Shanghai went into lockdown from March to combat the spread of Covid. While some have started reopening, getting workers back has proven difficult as some restrictions remain for others.

The 22-day shutdown of Tesla’s Shanghai factory was its longest since it began production in late 2019, and caused an output loss of more than 50,000 vehicles, according to calculations based on Tesla’s output plans seen by Reuters.

Tesla makes its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in Shanghai, serving the Chinese market and acting as an export hub to Germany and Japan.

The strong show of support from Shanghai also comes after Tesla had a difficult period with authorities last year, when it came under scrutiny over data security and product quality issues.



Source

We tested OpenAI’s Sora 2 video generator to find out why Hollywood is freaking out
Technology

We tested OpenAI’s Sora 2 video generator to find out why Hollywood is freaking out

The launch of OpenAI’s updated Sora 2 AI video service kicked off another round of anxiety among musicians, actors and other content creators. Sora allows users to generate short videos for free by typing in a prompt. The app is only available on iOS devices and is limited to invitees, meaning people need a code to access […]

Read More
Applied Digital stock climbs 16% as AI demand fuels data center growth
Technology

Applied Digital stock climbs 16% as AI demand fuels data center growth

Applied Digital shares jumped 16% on Friday after the company posted strong first-quarter revenue that was boosted by artificial intelligence data center demand, putting the stock up more than 350% for the year. Here’s how the company did compared to LSEG estimates: Loss per share: Loss of 7 cents vs. a loss of 13 cents […]

Read More
Rocket Lab’s stock set for 20% gain this week after flurry of new launch deals
Technology

Rocket Lab’s stock set for 20% gain this week after flurry of new launch deals

Rocket Lab shares have added more than a quarter in value this week as the aerospace company inked new launch deals in the burgeoning space tech industry. The stock was flat on Friday, but has surged over 20% this week. Shares were up nearly 50% over the last two weeks and traded near fresh highs […]

Read More