Tesla’s showrooms in Shanghai are expected to re-open and resume business this week following disruptions from a local Covid-19 outbreak, as efforts to expand Tesla’s Berlin gigafactory gain momentum in Germany.
Local officials in the financial hub of Shanghai have announced that a number of lockdown measures imposed on businesses will be lifted, starting this Wednesday, June 1.
China had previously created a whitelist to allow nearly 2,000 companies to resume operations – including Tesla’s gigafactory operations in Shanghai, which allowed the company to resume EV production in mid-April.
Now, Shanghai officials have confirmed that the whitelist is being eliminated and all companies will be able to resume work and production. And while there will still be travel restrictions in residential areas, Shanghai is nevertheless aiming to return to business-as-usual by mid- to late-June.
The news comes at the same time as Tesla Gigafactory Berlin launched plans for a 100-hectare expansion.
Tesla has reportedly been looking to purchase an adjoining plot of land, next to the existing Gigafactory Berlin plant which sits on around 300-hectares. That planned expansion has subsequently gotten underway, according to local paper RBB, with a submission to the local council to initiate the development.
The local council is expected to address the application sometime this week, and comments from Arne Christiani, the Mayor of Grünheide, do seem to suggest that the expansion application will be something of a formality.
Tesla is reportedly looking to include greater vertical integration at its Berlin gigafactory so as to limit its exposure to future supply chain issues and may even be eyeing a production capacity of 1 million units.
Gigafactory Berlin only began production earlier this year, after lengthy delays and planning issues pushed its launch date further and further out.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.