SHANGHAI -- Tesla Inc. has delayed a plan to restore production at its Shanghai plant to levels before the city's COVID-19 lockdown by at least a week, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.
The U.S. electric carmaker originally aimed to increase output at the Shanghai plant to 2,600 vehicles a day beginning May 16, Reuters reported earlier this month, citing another memo.
But the latest memo said the company plans to stick to one shift at the Shanghai factory for the current week with daily output of around 1,200 units. It also said that it would now aim to increase daily output to 2,600 units beginning May 23.
Challenges remain for Tesla to double the number of workers living and sleeping near production lines to maintain "closed-loop" operations, said a person familiar with the matter.
Companies in Shanghai are only allowed to reopen if they can operate under such an arrangement, which requires workers to be isolated.
There are also uncertainties over supplies. Output at parts suppliers and logistics in Shanghai and surrounding areas have yet to be restored to normal, the person added.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. The person declined to be identified as the matter is private.
On one day last week, Tesla operated the Shanghai plant well below capacity, indicating the problems factories face trying to ramp up output under a tightening COVID-19 lockdown.
Shanghai aims to reopen broadly and allow normal life to resume beginning June 1, a city official said on Monday, after declaring that 15 of of the city's 16 districts had eliminated cases outside quarantine areas.
On Sunday, Tesla shipped over 4,000 China-made EVs from a Shanghai port to Belgium, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday. It was the second batch of exports since the Shanghai plant resumed operation on April 19.
Tesla's manufacturing hub in Shanghai produces the Model 3 and Model Y for both domestic sale and export.
