For the past couple of years, more Teslas have appeared on the road, proving the popularity of electric vehicles. While CEO Elon Musk is bound to be excited to see his company thrive, the demand for more models have provided him with a positive problem.
Due to the increasing gas prices throughout the country, more people have found themselves leaning towards purchasing a Tesla.
With more people demanding Teslas, Musk is tasked with meeting people’s needs. To do so, he decided to put productions on halt at the Gigafactory Berlin to give the factory an upgrade.
As more people are finding the appeal in the Tesla models, the production for the cars have more than doubled. Gigafactory Berlin and Gigafactory are two bases with significant ramps.
Although both are new, Berlin has been progressive thanks to its 2170 cells, which enables a battery infrastructure that benefits Tesla. The factory also managed an incredible feat with its production rate of a thousand Model vehicles each week in June.
Gigafactory Texas was unable to keep pace with Berlin owing to its 4680 battery cell and structural battery pack. But things took a turn when the last week of June saw production ramp up significantly with Tesla shifting to building Model Y Long Range with 2170 cells at the plant.
Tesla expects its Berlin counterpart to catch up, and reports circulated that the factory would be shut down for over two weeks to give it an upgrade.
German publication Bild was the first to share the reports of Tesla’s temporary halt until the facilities are improved.
“Tesla therefore wants to interrupt operation for two weeks starting next Monday,” wrote Bild. “It is unclear how many of the 4,500 employees will be sent on vacation and how many technicians will remain to convert production.”
The publication added that Tesla would be adding a third shift and start electric motor productions so they wouldn’t have to wait for Gigafactory Shanghai to import them.
“According to employees, after the break-in production, work should be carried out in three instead of two shifts,” the publication elaborated. “In addition, Tesla could then start manufacturing the drive in a neighboring hall.”
While the factory space would improve conditions, Gigafactory Berlin faces the challenge of finding employees.
Tesla has been dealing with the problem of hiring and retaining employees as rumors of a salary problem circulated. IG Metall, the local union, was said to get involved, but Musk defused the situation with a 6% salary increase.
