Shanghai and Berlin up the Pace
Tesla Gigafactories Shanghai and Berlin are set to ramp up production this month as extra shifts get added and living conditions are improved.
This year has been full of setbacks and shutdowns for Tesla factories, but none more than Shanghai and Berlin. Due in large part to the Delta variant - and the resultant lockdowns - Giga Shanghai in particular had been forced to shut down for 22 days, reopening on April 19.
Shanghai officials have been very vigilant with regards to the virus, and have imposed strict rules for when and how workers can move around. In Tesla’s case, the company was allowed to resume work if they adopted a closed loop system - workers working their grueling 12-hour shifts and sleeping on the factory floor.
While Tesla has attempted to work with Shanghai officials to shuttle workers to and from their homes so as not to spread infection, officials have flatly refused the risk. Instead, Tesla is planning to make some temporary dormitories on site, to allow a more comfortable living situation for their employees. Tesla expects the factory to be forced to remain on the closed loop system until at least early June.
To add to these issues, auto parts and components have not exactly been in ready supply in Shanghai, but with the expected end to the lockdowns, Tesla predicts they can add a second shift to the roster, allowing for 24 hour production and a return to pre-lockdown numbers - around 2600 units or so per day.
Over in Germany, GigaBerlin is also adding a second shift, eager to ramp up production there as well.
Some of you folks will recall the bureaucratic hurdles Tesla had to push through to get GigaBerlin approved for production, and so things have gained momentum a little slower there.
The factory officially opened in March, and has steadily put out new Model Ys with the aim of reaching 500,000 units produced in its first phase.
To help with this goal, Tesla is looking to add a second shift. Workers in Germany take 8 hour shifts, so the plan is to add a second to make a 16 hour production day.
It’s good to see Tesla working out production issues. The fact that they’ve grown their output at both these factories while being plagued with supply issues, procedural hitches and, well, and actual plague, is very impressive. As the situation starts to improve across the world, it’ll be interesting to see how quickly full production sets in.