Kuka robots work on Tesla Model X at the Tesla factory in Fremont, California on Thursday, July 26, 2018.
Mason Trinca | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Tesla announced Friday to employees at its Fremont, Calif. Facility that its S and X electric vehicle production lines will be closed from December 24th to January 11th. This comes from an email from CNBC.
Employees working on these lines were offered a full week of pay to cover one of the two and a half weeks of shutdown as well as some paid holidays. You have been asked to take 5 unplanned and unpaid days off, but will have the opportunity to try to find work in other areas of the factory during those days.
They were also encouraged to volunteer to help deliver electric vehicles to customers during the shutdown.
In a separate email sent across the company on Friday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk noted that the company “is fortunate that the high-end demand problem this quarter is well above production” , and urged employees to increase production as much as possible during the remainder of the quarter.
The shutdown of the S and X lines suggests that the high demand does not extend to these older models. It’s not clear what Tesla plans to do with its Model S and X-Lines during the vacation shutdown. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company has struggled with a recall in China this year, a safety probe from NHTSA, and an extended warranty for some of its high-end Model S sedans and its luxury hawk-door SUV, the Model X.
Deliveries of these vehicles totaled 15,200 in the third quarter of 2020. This is evident from the company’s vehicle production and deliveries report dated September 30, which accounts for approximately 11% of vehicle deliveries for the quarter.
At an annual general meeting and investor presentation on Battery Day earlier this year, executives said the long-awaited Tesla Model S plaid would begin shipping in late 2021.
The email to production workers working on the Model S and Model X SUVs (as transcribed by CNBC) stated:
Subject: S / X Holiday Shutdown
Hello team,
The SX lines will be closed for the holidays from December 24th to January 11th.
We want you to take the opportunity to freshen up or spend quality time with your family so Tesla will give you full weekly pay for the week of January 4th. During this time there are also limited paid opportunities for you to support other businesses or volunteer for deliveries.
December 23 – last working day before shutdown
24.-25. December – Paid Holidays *
28.-30. December – Unpaid time off (can use PTO **), support deliveries, or other business.
December 31 – January 1st – Paid leave *
January 4th – 8th – Paid time off (40 hours)
January 11th – return to work
If you’d like to volunteer for December 26-31 deliveries or support other businesses from December 28-30, please use the survey below to let us know your preference. We will do our best to meet your requirements. However, the preferences are not guaranteed and are assigned based on availability.
Here is the separate email from Musk to all employees (as transcribed by CNBC):
Subject: vehicle production
We are fortunate that the high-class problem of demand this quarter is well above production.
To make sure we get the best customer outcome possible and gain the trust of the customers and investors who entrusted us with their trust and hard earned money, we need to ramp up production as much as possible for the remainder of the quarter.
I would only send this note if it was really important.
Super appreciated,
Elon
By the way, please message me directly if you see ways to improve the output but feel like your voice is not being heard.
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