ELECTRIVE — 2024-02-12
Automotive Industry
Tesla announced the production interruption itself in mid-January. Model Y production in Grünheide was interrupted between 29 January and 11 February. The reason for this was not conversion work at the factory itself, but a problem in the supply chain: due to the attacks by the Yemeni Houthi rebels on merchant ships in the Red Sea, many shipments from Asia took a diversion around the African continent instead of taking the shorter route to Europe via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. As the factory in Grünheide is dependent on components from China, such as batteries – this has created an unplanned gap in the supply chain.
Tesla has now stated that the supply chains are intact again and that all necessary parts for production are sufficiently available. Work continued in the areas of Giga Berlin that were not affected by the parts shortage. In vehicle production, which was at a standstill, the forced break was used for maintenance work and further training was offered to employees.
Shortly before the interruption, Tesla reached the mark of 6,000 electric cars produced within a week for the first time, according to plant manager Andre Thierig in Grünheide. In other words, Tesla was unable to build 12,000 Model Ys during the interruption of exactly two weeks.
The target for the first expansion phase is 10,000 vehicles per week, which would bring annual production to around 500,000 units. In the annual report for 2023, Tesla stated a production capacity of 375,000 cars per year for Grünheide. One million electric cars per year are planned for the final expansion of the plant.