A new video out of China shows Tesla’s Giga Shanghai teeming with activity. The massive electric car production facility resumed its operations Monday following a government-mandated shutdown of businesses in the country due to the corona virus outbreak.
Tesla Model S owner and Twitter user @JayinShanghai posted a video showcasing Giga Shanghai’s facade, stamping workshop, welding line, paint shop, general assembly, car wash, and Supercharger stations juicing up Model 3s in the compound.
Tesla suppliers also resumed their operations in China. LG Chem returned to work on Monday with a provision to change its decision depending on the situation. Joyson Safety, which supplies parts for Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, also went online to help ensure that China-made Teslas will be delivered as soon as possible to customers.
Around the location of Giga Shanghai, about 330 businesses were also allowed to resume operations.
Exclusive Video: Tesla Giga Shanghai Officially Resumes Operation, let’s take a look inside the factory.
Full Video Here: https://t.co/1gMJiM8X9I#Tesla #TeslaChina #Gigafactory #GigaShanghai #ChinaMade #Model3 #特斯拉 #中国 $TSLA pic.twitter.com/A8pXnjStIc
— Jay in Shanghai 🇨🇳 (@JayinShanghai) February 10, 2020
Other car manufacturers in China have also started production. Ford started resuming work at several of its facilities in the country. GM, meanwhile, said that its return to operations in China will depend on the safety of their employees, inventory available in dealers, and parts availability. Toyota is also taking steps to resume operations this week.
About 40 shuttle buses brought employees to Giga Shanghai as it went online Monday after an extended pause in operation following the long holiday in celebration of the Chinese New Year and the outbreak of the coronavirus that has so far infected almost 43,000 people and has claimed more than 1,000 lives in the country, according to recent figures from CNN.
Over the weekend, the municipal government of Shanghai promised to coordinate and assist businesses, including Tesla, to resume operations. It also offered to ask banks to offer preferential rates for existing loans.
Tesla’s finance chief Zach Kirkhorn clarified during a recent earnings call that while there was an expected delay in the production of Made-in-China Model 3 due to the coronavirus public health scare, the carmaker is not expecting a big hit on its profits as the MIC Model 3 only represents a small fraction of Tesla’s quarterly profits.
The $2 billion Giga Shanghai factory is the first factory of Tesla outside of the United States. It has a current run rate of 3,000 units a week and an annual initial expected output of 150,000 vehicles.
