Tesla resumes production in Shanghai

Tesla resumes production at its Shanghai plant on Tuesday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc resumed production at its Shanghai plant on Tuesday, after local authorities issued guidelines to restore manufacturing following a citywide lockdown due to COVID-19.

As some 8,000 employees returned to the site on Sunday and Monday, production resumed early Tuesday morning in its battery and electrical machinery workshops, the company said in a statement sent to China Daily late Tuesday.

"We will ramp up the output over the next three to four days to resume one-shift production," said Song Gang, a senior director of manufacturing at the Tesla factory.

The company said it has strictly followed the epidemic prevention and control instructions laid down by the Shanghai municipal government and put in place number of rules such as conducting antigen tests in the morning and nucleic acid tests in the evening.

According to Song, a number of Shanghai-based Tesla spare part suppliers have also resumed business. The neighboring provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu have also resumed supply chain work.

Shanghai over the weekend released guidelines on business resumption for key industries and manufacturers following the COVID-induced lockdown, aiming to ensure industrial and supply chain security.

Tesla produces Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in the Shanghai plant, serving both the Chinese market and exporting to Europe and Asia. It delivered 310,048 vehicles in the first quarter, up 68 percent from the previous year.