Coincidentally, Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote on Twitter today that he “supposedly” has Covid-19 again. The Austin, Texas-based electric vehicle maker has notified its employees and suppliers of its closure of the world’s largest electric vehicle plant, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Shutting down will further slow down production
The closure is the second time Tesla has shut down production at its Shanghai plant this month, after the company closed for two days on March 16 as the government tightened restrictions due to rising Covid omicron cases. Toyota and Volkswagen also reportedly shut down car production in China earlier this month. Tesla said it had always sought to fulfill its responsibilities to prevent the epidemic and that it believed Shanghai Covid-19 measures had helped lay the groundwork for the city’s future development, she told Reuters in a statement. Shanghai authorities have said they will split Shanghai in two for the tests, using the Huangpu River that runs through the city as a boundary. The Tesla plant is located in the Lingang area of Pudong, which is part of the first lockdown stage in Shanghai, which started on Monday and will continue until Friday morning. Shanghai is at the center of a new rise in Covid-19 cases in China, with 3,500 new cases reported in the city on Sunday. The Tesla plant in Shanghai, which opened in January 2020, produced 56,515 electric vehicles in February, with 33,315 destined for export. The plant is growing to eventually produce 1 million EV each year. Scroll to continue
More Tesla factory openings
Musk opened the Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin to many fans on Tuesday. The facility covers 300 hectares and will also house a battery factory in the near future. Eventually, 500,000 Tesla Model Y, 100% electric SUVs will be taken off the assembly lines every year in Germany. Nearly 3,000 people are already working at the plant, but Tesla said it plans to “hire thousands of new employees in the coming months” to exceed the 12,000 mark. Prior to the Berlin plant, Tesla served the European market with vehicles produced at the Shanghai plant. The automaker will officially open its fourth vehicle plant in April in Austin. Tesla and Musk are planning a “GigaFest” on April 7 for the inauguration of the Austin plant. This factory, the fourth in the group, was built smoothly. The factory is expected to employ more than 5,000 workers. The EV maker is expected to build more than 1.4 million vehicles worldwide this year, producing just under 1 million in 2021. The company said today it would ask shareholders to vote on a possible split in its next annual general meeting. Shares of Tesla rose 8.05% on Monday to $ 1,092 in the last audit.
Elon Musk says he has Covid
“Covid-19 is Theseus virus. How many genes change before it is no longer Covid-19. I’m supposed to have it again (sigh), but almost no symptoms,” Musk wrote on Twitter on Monday.
