(Yicai Global) May 30 -- Tesla introduced a second work shift at its Shanghai gigafactory last week and expects next month’s production to return to levels not seen since before Covid-19 returned to the city, Yicai Global has learned.

The US electric carmaker is still operating a factory bubble, an insider said, adding that the logistical supply of auto parts is gradually picking up, while another said the volume of parts received each day is just enough to keep the two shifts going.

The gigafactory, situated in Lingang New Area, had triple shifts and operated 24/7 before the latest Covid-19 wave hit Shanghai, enabling it to make about 20,000 cars a week. Tesla dialed down to a single shift on April 19, when the number of available workers was not enough to cover all assembly lines and logistics became snarled.

Production was supposed to return to pre-outbreak levels in the middle of this month, but the plan was postponed several times because of problems in the supply chain and with logistics. As late as May 17, the plant’s capacity utilization rate only reached 45 percent.

While logistics are picking up, they have not been fully restored yet due to factors such as local governments having different Covid-19 restrictions in place, especially for cross-border provincial shipments, according to the second insider.

A source at a Shanghai-based Tesla supplier said his factory had also met with a shortfall in raw material supplies when it began to resume production after the recent Covid outbreak peaked, but as of now, its production capability has been significantly increased, with the movement of both raw materials and products returning to pre-outbreak levels.

With the support of China’s customs authority, Tesla’s auto exports have also restarted. As of the middle of this month, two ships loaded with about 9,000 electric vehicles sailed for Europe and other destinations.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione