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Tesla to provide stipend, meals, and mattresses to workers as Giga Shanghai adopts “closed-loop” system

Credit: Tesla Inc.

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Following a three-week shutdown that began at the end of March, Giga Shanghai is poised to resume vehicle production. To accomplish this, Tesla China is adopting a closed-loop system, which would involve the company temporarily housing its workers in the Giga Shanghai complex. 

Gigafactory Shanghai has been serving an increasingly large part of Tesla’s operations. Last year, the facility effectively produced about half of the vehicles that the company delivered worldwide. It is pertinent for Tesla to ensure that Giga Shanghai could return to operations as quickly as possible, as every day the facility is paused results in lost production. 

Fortunately, Tesla China appears to have a clear-cut plan to ensure that its workers are safe as it resumes operations at Giga Shanghai. As per individuals familiar with the matter and a memo retrieved and viewed by Bloomberg, Tesla China would be adopting a closed-loop system in Gigafactory Shanghai. This means that the company would be boarding its workers to ensure that the facility remains operational. 

According to the publication’s sources, each worker at Gigafactory Shanghai would be provided a sleeping bag, a mattress, and three meals a day. Workers would be sleeping on the factory floor in a designated area for now, though spaces for showering and entertainment are coming. Tesla would also be giving its workers a daily stipend of about 400 yuan (about $63), though the exact amount will be dependent on a person’s position in the company. 

Tesla has reportedly informed employees on Friday to prepare for a closed-loop system this week. To help employees bypass restrictions on residential compounds in Shanghai, Tesla China reportedly issued a special certificate for workers who were on call. The company also arranged buses to shuttle workers to the facility. It should be noted that only Tesla China staff who were residing in the lowest-risk residential compounds in Shanghai and those who have completed two shots of the Covid vaccine would be allowed to resume work. 

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The memo retrieved by Bloomberg noted that these workers would be joining about 400 employees who are already in the Giga Shanghai facility. The last batch of closed-loop workers at Gigafactory Shanghai is expected to work in the facility through May 1, though this is subject to changes depending on the city’s Covid restrictions. The workers who would be temporarily living in Giga Shanghai would reportedly be working 12 hours per day, six days straight, with one day off. 

Prior to the current shutdown, Giga Shanghai was operating 24/7 using three shifts of workers. Factory workers would typically work four days on and then take two days off, according to individuals familiar with the matter. While Gigafactory Shanghai would be resuming production, however, ramping the facility back to its previous output levels would likely take some time. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Tesla is testing a new way to eliminate a rare but concerning Supercharger issue

Tesla is testing a new way to end a rare issue at Superchargers, and its internal pilot program has already started.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is now testing a new way to eliminate a rare but concerning issue that can arise at Superchargers, especially as the company’s vehicles become more popular.

Tesla’s Supercharger Network is the most robust in the world, but the company has opened it up to other manufacturers, which makes the network even more congested than it already is.

Superchargers are continually being built, and existing stations are undergoing expansion in congested areas. However, there is one rare issue that still arises from time to time, and that’s the case of drivers cutting in line to charge before another vehicle that arrived before they did.

Tesla is rolling out a new ‘Supercharger queue’ in an effort to end one issue

A few months ago, Tesla said it would start testing a “virtual queuing” system that would tell cars what their position is in line. This would eliminate any instances of confusion between drivers and would also keep cutters from butting in front of those who arrived before them.

Now, Tesla is officially testing the program, according to Max de Zegher, the company’s North American charging head:

Public pilots will begin soon at select sites after Tesla completes its internal testing. Admittedly, this is an incredibly rare issue, but it is something that is worth confronting because it will eliminate confrontations at Superchargers.

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Tesla still has two major milestones on track before end of Q2

Tesla still is on track to complete two monumental achievements as Q2 nears its end.

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla still has two major milestones it is on track to complete before the end of the second quarter, according to statements made by the automaker earlier this year.

With the launch of the Robotaxi platform in Austin on Sunday, Tesla has already completed perhaps its biggest milestone of 2025.

However, these are not the only things the company hopes to accomplish before we head into the latter half of the year, as there are two major things the company said it is aiming to complete before the third quarter starts next week.

Affordable Models

Tesla said earlier this year, on two separate occasions, that it is still on track to develop, build, and unveil the first affordable models that will be built on both the next-gen platform and also have aspects of the current vehicle platform.

Potential affordable Tesla “Model 2/Model Q” test car spotted anew in Giga Texas

In the Q4 2024 Earnings Call in January, the company said:

“Preparations are underway across our existing factories for the launch of new products in 2025, including more affordable models.”

The company continued:

“Plans for new vehicles, including more affordable models, remain on track for start of production in the first half of 2025. These vehicles will utilize aspects of the next generation platform as well as aspects of our current platforms and will be produced on the same manufacturing lines as our current vehicle line-up.”

Although there are only a few days left, Tesla has yet to confirm that these affordable models are delayed, so we can expect that they’ll be arriving before the quarter ends.

The company might have been hinting toward one recently at the Fremont Factory, but it is more likely that the vehicle seen was the new Model Y Performance trim:

Tesla’s apparent affordable model zips around Fremont test track

Tesla delivers itself to customers

Back in late May, CEO Elon Musk said that the first Tesla to self-deliver would happen in June:

Tesla just launched its Robotaxi platform on Sunday, so this would be a tremendous step if it can, in fact, make this happen.

The customer would likely be extremely local to Gigafactory Texas. In the future, the company would load the vehicles onto haulers and then drive to customer homes from delivery centers, showrooms, and repair centers.

Teslas will self-deliver to customers, Elon Musk says: here’s when

Tesla has a few days left to complete both of these tasks, and then it will report delivery figures for the second quarter next week.

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Tesla’s Omead Afshar, known as Elon Musk’s right-hand man, leaves company: reports

Tesla’s Head of North American sales and European ops, Omead Afshar, has reportedly left the company. He was widely-known as Elon Musk’s right-hand man.

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Credit: Elon Musk | X

Tesla’s Omead Afshar, who is widely known as CEO Elon Musk’s right-hand man, has reportedly left the company.

Several outlets are reporting that Afshar either left voluntarily or was potentially terminated on Thursday. His LinkedIn profile has not been updated to reflect this, and still states he presently works at Tesla in the “Office of the CEO.”

Afshar was promoted to Head of North American sales and European operations late last year. We reported on his promotion in October, as he was previously a Project Manager in the Office of the CEO before Musk and co. stepped up his responsibilities.

According to the initial report on Afshar’s departure from Bloomberg, the news has been circulating throughout the company in recent days. His name no longer appears in the company’s internal directory.

It is interesting to think about what could have caused this. Tesla has felt some pressure in Europe with struggling sales figures in some markets. It is the second-best-selling EV maker in the region, with Volkswagen performing slightly better for the year, according to EU-EVs.

Tesla’s Model Y is the best-selling EV in the region.

While the company has not directly confirmed the news, it appears to be true based on the reports.

Tesla is usually relatively quick to dispel any headlines that go out from mainstream media that are not factual. This has yet to be responded to by any executive, including Musk.

Afshar has been with Tesla for seven years and ten months, first joining in September 2017 as a Project Manager in the Office of the CEO.

He then became a Project Director, before his job title was updated to a Cowboy hat emoji in July 2020, around the time Tesla started moving some things to Texas.

Forbes is reporting that Afshar was terminated and did not leave voluntarily. This has yet to be confirmed.

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