Tesla's Shanghai factory is expected to remain closed for another day, until Apr. 4, as Shanghai is currently in strict lockdown due to the increase of COVID-19 cases.

The automaker told its employees to stay home and comply with the city's COVID restrictions.

Tesla Extends Reopening Date

According to Bloomberg, Tesla was supposed to resume production at the Shanghai plant on Apr. 4, as some COVID restrictions are expected to end.

However, employees in the eastern part of Shanghai, where Tesla's factory is located, are still facing COVID-related movement restrictions. There is no news about when the city will lift them.

According to Reuters, Tesla first shut down the plant on Mar. 28, starting the city's two-stage lockdown. The automaker initially aimed to keep the factory closed for only four days.

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As of Apr. 4, the factory will have been closed for a week. Tesla previously closed its Shanghai factory for two days last month because of an increase in COVID-19 cases.

The Shanghai factory is considered Tesla's largest factory. It produces more than 6,000 Model 3 and 10,000 Model Y vehicles every week.

On Apr. 2, Tesla reported that it delivered 310,048 vehicles in the first three months of 2022, despite its CEO Elon Musk calling it a difficult quarter because of the supply chain issues and the shutdown of its Shanghai plant.

The automaker said that the Model 3 and Model Y made up 295,324 of the deliveries in a press release. Meanwhile, the Model S and Model X made up 14,724 of the deliveries.

The deliveries increased slightly from the past quarter's 308,600 deliveries and outpaced the 184,800 shipments the automaker made in the first quarter, representing a 68% year-over-year increase. On the production side of things, Tesla built a total of 305,407 vehicles.

Tesla is scheduled to open a new plant in Austin, Texas, this week. Tesla also opened a new factory in Berlin, Germany, last March.

Tesla Shanghai's Workforce Problem

According to Electrek, Tesla has issues security with its workforce amid lockdowns throughout Shanghai to limit the spread of COVID-19.

As we reported earlier this week, Tesla had to halt production at Gigafactory Shanghai as the city is shutting down due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. The automaker had planned to restart production on Apr. 1, but the plans have been delayed.

The lockdown in Shanghai, where the Tesla factory is located, is expected to lift on Apr. 4, but there is still a lockdown happening on the other side of the city.

Tesla expected that it could restart production at that point, but now it believes that it won't have enough employees to successfully relaunch production as some of them will be affected by the second stage of the lockdown in the city.

Tesla's Shanghai factory is missing out on around 2,000 vehicles per day with the lockdown happening. It comes during the last days of the quarter, and Tesla is expected to submit its Q1 2022 delivery and production numbers during the weekend.

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Written by Sophie Webster