Elon Musk says Tesla's Berlin & Austin gigafactories are losing 'billions of dollars right now'

Musk also describes the gigafactories as gigantic money furnaces.

Image: Tesla
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Elon Musk is back in the news once again, this time in regards to statements made about Tesla’s Berlin and Austin gigafactories. According to Musk, the factories are losing “billions of dollars right now” due to ongoing supply chain issues.

This stems, in part, from the COVID-19 pandemic as a recent resurgence of the virus in China resulted in a two-month lockdown in Shanghai, which is where one of Tesla’s plants is located.

That said, lockdowns aren’t the primary problem as it was reported by Reuters that Tesla plans to suspend most of its Shanghai plant’s production during the first two weeks of July in order to work on upgrades intended to increase the plant’s output.

Elon Musk says the Austin and Berlin gigafactories are losing billions of dollars due to ongoing supply chain issues
© Tesla

At present, the Shanghai factory produces around 17,000 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, with the goal behind increasing output being to bring that number up to 22,000. Ramping up production can be costly, but it sounds like it isn’t as concerningly costly as the situation with Tesla’s Berlin and Austin gigafactories.

Tesla's Shanghai factory will shut down for two weeks in July as it's upgraded to increase production output
© Xiaolu Chu | Getty Images

In one part of Musk’s statement on the Berlin and Austin factories, he points out as an example that some of the tools needed for manufacturing some of Tesla’s vehicles are currently “stuck in a port in China”.

Not being out of it yet certainly seems to be the case, as Reuters reports that production at Tesla’s Shanghai factory is expect to fall by “over a third this quarter from the first three months of the year” as a result of lockdowns in China causing “deeper disruptions to output than Musk had predicted.”

For more on this, be sure to read through the full report from Reuters and CNBC. And for more on Elon Musk, also check out some of our coverage including Musk confirming upcoming Tesla (TSLA) salaried workforce cuts.

Senior Editor

Morgan is a writer from the frozen wastelands of Maine who enjoys metal music, kpop, horror, and indie games. They're also a Tetris fanatic who's fiercely competitive in games like Tetris 99... and all games in general. But mostly Tetris. You can follow Morgan on Twitter @Author_MShaver.

From The Chatty
    • reply
      June 23, 2022 5:48 PM

      Elon should plow that best friend's mother and get him a sugar momma

    • reply
      June 23, 2022 5:52 PM

      Prediction- Trump hands him a nice bailout when he gets back in office.

    • reply
      June 23, 2022 6:17 PM

      You say Elon Musk says Tesla's Berlin & Austin gigafactories are losing 'billions of dollars right now'

      I say Elon Musk is manipulating for Tesla buybacks. This fucking guys is so transparent. Elon Cellophane Musk.

      • reply
        June 23, 2022 6:26 PM

        A Tesla buyback is very unlikely. They are a capital intensive business and have no history of returning cash to shareholders.

        • reply
          June 23, 2022 6:28 PM

          And Elon has a history of manipulating the markets.

          • reply
            June 23, 2022 6:46 PM

            Yeah, but not once has it been to facilitate a buyback. If anything, it appears he is talking down expectations for the current quarter.

            • reply
              June 23, 2022 8:03 PM

              Ok, I trust you on the market more than myself Asif. Also fuck Elon Musk.

    • reply
      June 23, 2022 6:30 PM

      Elon Musk says should be a board game.

    • reply
      June 23, 2022 6:44 PM

      Can we stop the Musk threads please? Or do we need a Musk Dump?

      • reply
        June 23, 2022 6:46 PM

        Do you just want us to stop generating threads for front page articles?

        • reply
          June 23, 2022 6:54 PM

          Sounds like we have free speech deniers in here! Cast them down to the sodomites!!!

          • reply
            June 23, 2022 6:56 PM

            Cool. Solid reply.

            • reply
              June 23, 2022 7:03 PM

              II think posts asking for other posts to not be made should be moderated. Why do they care so much? I’ve seen way too many talented posters be pushed away because it would make the community better but it hasn’t. Those people are pushed away. I’m not talking about anyone hateful, it just seems that most of the people that leave here are usually the most interesting ones.

              I think if too many people make Musk threads and they stop getting attention, then the problem solves itself. Those people probably won’t leave, they will just get on something else. But that’s good, you need content flowing in, not out.

              • reply
                June 23, 2022 7:13 PM

                It just feels like we have a daily "what dumb thing did Musk say/do today?" Just like the multiple Trump threads.

                • reply
                  June 23, 2022 7:16 PM

                  What is the problem with that? What happens because there are too many threads? You feel like you need to read one or it doesn’t interest you? I think it’s fair to tag them political. You can always filter out? Or is it something else?

                • reply
                  June 23, 2022 7:33 PM

                  That's because one is for sure a piece of shit and other one is getting there.

                  • reply
                    June 23, 2022 7:53 PM

                    I dunno, I think they're both firmly in the "pos" camp now.

                • reply
                  June 23, 2022 7:38 PM

                  They’re front page articles. You don’t have to click on them if you don’t want to.

                • reply
                  June 23, 2022 8:28 PM

                  Then ignore it and move the fuck on.

        • reply
          June 23, 2022 7:37 PM

          Please don’t.

        • reply
          June 23, 2022 7:45 PM

          Ignore them

      • reply
        June 24, 2022 4:38 AM

        [deleted]

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