Tesla, which came out of Shanghai’s coronavirus lockdown earlier this year, is once more putting its supply chain at risk due to heatwaves in Sichuan Province.
The government of Sichuan Province, a major manufacturing hub for China’s electric vehicle industry and home to many Tesla suppliers, said on the 21st that record-breaking heatwaves have forced manufacturers to shut down electricity for several more days to stock up on electricity for residents.
As a result, Sichuan authorities have extended the manufacturer’s blackout measures imposed on the 15th until August 25th due to the continued power shortage due to high temperature and low rainfall.
The production shutdown in Sichuan will be particularly hard for Tesla, as it is trying to recover from supply disruptions caused by the two-month coronavirus lockdown in Shanghai earlier this year.
Last week, Tesla reportedly warned the Shanghai government that the shutdown of a plant in Sichuan province was causing shortages of parts and delays in production. In response to the news, officials in Shanghai have requested that 16 suppliers of Tesla and state-owned automaker SAIC Motor be first sent to power plants in Sichuan Province on the 16th.
Shanghai is a major cooperating city for Tesla, and is said to have helped Tesla resume production amid a two-month coronavirus lockdown earlier this year. However, Shanghai’s influence did not persuade other regions to change their attitudes.
China’s current heatwave is the longest on record, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius and low precipitation for more than two months in central China. Some cities, such as Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, where the average rainfall in August is 75 to 100 millimeters, has not rained at all this month, according to the China Meteorological Administration. The Yangtze River is now less than half the depth.
/ Fortune Korea Correspondent Kim Sang-do santos@fortunekorea.co.kr