Tesla plans to temporarily shutdown its Fremont factory for improvements, a move that comes just a day after reports emerged that coronavirus cases were emerging at the plant.
The shutdown, which is expected to hit the end of the month according to Tesla Electrek’s blog, is necessary to install new heavy machinery to speed up production, likely from the company’s new Model Y SUV, and could take several days or a week.
“Some workers were told that the factory was expected to close by the end of the month,” according to the blog.
The Tesla factory in Fremont is its largest facility, and Musk has made plant upgrades a priority. The factory is so crucial to Tesla’s business that Musk criticized California health officials when they forced it to close during the state blockade by coronavirus.
It is also the site of a recent spike in cases of the virus, with hundreds of workers infected or in contact with someone infected in recent months.
While Tesla has implemented measures aimed at keeping employees safe, such as temperature controls and mandatory social distancing, employees told Electrek that the rules are not always followed.
The Washington Post reported in June that half a dozen anonymous Tesla workers said the northern California factory was lax in applying its safety measures, including sanitation of machinery.
The report alleged that factory employees “hover over each other” and that there is a lack of communication between management and staff about coronavirus cases among workers. Employees disappear for weeks at a time, according to the report, and supervisors only say they were “sick.”
Tesla shares fell 1.2 percent on Wednesday morning, to $ 1,499.02. The company, which recently eclipsed Toyota to become the world’s most valuable automaker, now has a market capitalization of $ 277.9 billion.
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