Tesla will reopen its shuttered factory in New York and start manufacturing ventilators for coronavirus patients, Elon Musk has confirmed.
New York is currently the epicenter of the Covid-19 virus in the United States and Tesla was recently forced to shut its New York facility in Buffalo due to lockdown orders.
Taking to Twitter, however, Musk said, “Giga New York will reopen for ventilator production as soon as humanly possible. We will do anything in our power to help the citizens of New York.”
Giga New York will reopen for ventilator production as soon as humanly possible. We will do anything in our power to help the citizens of New York.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2020
This confirmation comes shortly after Assemblyman Sean Ryan urged Tesla’s chief executive to help the state of New York cope with the pandemic, Al Jazeera reports.
Read More: Musk Goes From Calling Virus Panic Dumb To Saying His Companies Could Make Ventilators
Tesla has been making other moves to help the U.S. with its shortage of hospital ventilators. On Monday, Musk revealed that Tesla had purchased 1,255 unneeded ventilators from China and shipped them to Los Angeles to help alleviate the local shortage. Musk added that the devices will be installed for free in hospitals.
In addition, it is understood that Tesla has initiated plans to also build ventilators at its Fremont, California factory that is also under strict lockdown orders. Tesla will work with medical equipment company Medtronic to start building them.
Tesla is also eager to make the most of the lockdown and will reportedly use the time to make a series of upgrades to its Fremont facility to improve production.
Ford and General Motors are also working with medical companies to make ventilators and respirators.
Making good progress. We will do whatever is needed to help in these difficult times.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2020
