Tesla Restarts Exports Out Of China Following Previous Shutdown

Apparently, the factory is already producing enough cars on multiple assembly lines to begin exports.

By: Steven Loveday

May 11, 2022 at 12:52pm ET

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As you may know, Tesla's factory in China – Giga Shanghai – recently faced a shutdown due to COVID-19 restrictions. The factory had to remain closed for about three weeks, during which it lost a healthy chunk of production. However, a few weeks ago, on April 19, the factory reopened under specific circumstances. Now, Tesla China is already sending nearly 5,000 vehicles out for export.

When the Tesla factory in China reopened, employees had to stay at the factory, eating and sleeping there. In addition, Tesla was only running one long shift instead of the usual three shifts. Obviously, production would get off to a slow but healthy start. Since then, it has been reported that Giga Shanghai is ramping up rather quickly.

According to a recent tweet by CN Wire, the Glovis Splendor cargo ship has already left Shanghai with 4,767 Tesla vehicles. This marks the first export from Tesla China since Giga Shanhai reopened last month.

Reuters confirms that the cargo ship departed from Shanghai today, Wednesday, May 11. In addition, the publication states that Tesla will be shipping another 4,100 cars this upcoming Friday.

As you can see from the images above, the cars being loaded onto the Glovis Splendor are a combination of Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. As Teslarati notes, this suggests that the factory is now running assembly lines for both vehicles.

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The tweet shares that the Model 3 and Model Y vehicles are already on their way to Koper port in Slovenia. According to Teslarati, reports from customs officials stated that Tesla was in a hurry to get cars loaded and out of port, which makes sense since the electric automaker is playing catch-up after the factory closure.

Information released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows that Tesla's sales in China are reportedly down 97.7 percent month-over-month at this point. However, there is not yet information available about the exact number of exports, though the potential for nearly 9,000 exports this week alone shows promise.

Sources: CN Wire via Teslarati, Reuters