Tesla has today begun a three-week lockdown of the Californian manufacturing plant in efforts to slow Coronavirus.
This comes at the worst time for Tesla with the current Model Y in such high demand; they had actually ramped up production in the past few weeks.
CEO Elon Musk had previously said that plans were to continue manufacturing and delivering cars.
The factory, based in Alameda County, which is why the halt to production has taken place, with strict travel restrictions now in place.
Musk, had written to all of his employees saying that production would continue, but they should not feel obliged to come in to the factory.
“My frank opinion remains that the harm from the Coronavirus panic far exceeds that of the virus itself,” This was part of the message the workforce received.
273 Coronavirus infections have been reported in the San Francisco Bay Area, and 12 deaths have resulted from the virus in California.
More than 10,000 employees are based out of the factory, enabling production of nearly half a million vehicles each year.
This high production has resulted in Tesla becoming the fastest growing car manufacturer in recent years.
Tesla is likely able to recover as all car companies are having to deal with the virus in their own way, we heard a couple of weeks ago about Jaguar Land Rover importing car parts in suitcases.
The Shanghai Tesla plant was shut down for 10 weeks, commencing from the peak of the virus in China.
