Germany’s Chancellor plans lithium deal with Serbia after Rio ruling
Olaf Scholz plans to visit Serbia this week to secure supplies of lithium that are critical for the nation’s energy transition and auto industry.
Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) has idled its Freemont, California factory to prepare for the rollout of its Model X sport-utility vehicle and for faster production of its Model S electric sedan, according to Bloomberg.
The $100 million overhaul, which began Monday, involves adding 25 robots to speed up output and retooling the factory’s body and assembly line, Simon Sproule, a Tesla Motors spokesperson, was quoted by the media company as saying.
The carmaker’s goal is a 25% production boost when vehicle assembly resumes in two weeks, he said.
“This represents the single biggest investment in the plant since we really started operations and enables us for higher volumes,” said Sproule, according to Bloomberg. “It gets us ready to build X and to do it on the same line as the S.”
At the end of the first quarter, Tesla was making nearly 700 Model S units per week with the aim of raising that to 1,000 units later this year, Bloomberg said.
Tesla, California’s biggest automotive employer, will let assembly workers take vacation time or come to the plant for maintenance and training shifts during the reconfiguration, the media company said.
