By some estimates, the Shanghai lockdown, which forced Tesla’s local facility to shut down for 22 days, cut quarterly electric vehicle production by more than 60,000 units. To compensate for the losses, the company is now trying to quickly increase production volumes, and this week expects to produce 16,000 cars.

Image Source: Tesla

According to tradition, Reuters shares the Tesla internal mailing data for employees of the Chinese enterprise. Starting this Tuesday, the Shanghai site will increase daily production of electric vehicles to 2,600 units, although about a thousand cars were assembled on Monday. Weekly production volumes are planned to be increased to 16,000 electric vehicles, taking into account the possibility of the enterprise working in three shifts.

The company was able to partially resume the assembly of electric vehicles in Shanghai from April 19, but the introduction of additional shifts was constantly delayed due to a shortage of employees and components, as well as difficulties with logistics. The first group of 6,000 company workers had to be transported on buses provided by the Shanghai municipal government when the lockdown in the Chinese metropolis was not yet fully lifted. Last Sunday, metro stations and some lines began to open in the city, allowing residents to get to work faster. In April, Tesla was able to sell only 1,512 electric vehicles in China, and did not export a single one, although the Shanghai plant for the company is the largest manufacturer of export products.

By the way, if now an enterprise in Shanghai manages to produce 16,000 cars a week, then theoretically it will be able to produce 800,000 electric vehicles a year, and this will be a record for the company. Tesla intends to build another plant in Shanghai, together they will be able to increase production to 2 million cars a year.