Tesla Shows 'Car Parts-Based' Ventilator Prototype For Coronavirus Pandemic

Tesla Inc. TSLA on Sunday publicized a prototype of its ventilators for patients who fall critically ill from novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

What Happened

"We are trying to make some ventilators out of some car parts so that we can help out the medical industry without taking away from their supply," one of the Tesla engineers, who is a part of the project, said during the demonstration.

The engineers didn't specify a timeline for the production of the ventilators. "There's still a lot of work to do, but we're giving it our best effort," one of the employees said.

Tesla had to shut down its Fremont and New York factories for regular production due to the shelter in place orders imposed by local authorities.

The automaker's chief executive officer Elon Musk later said the New York gigafactory would be reopened to produce ventilators for patients who fall critically ill from infecting the coronavirus and require breathing support.

Tesla earlier delivered the promised 1,000 ventilators to the government of California, but the company hadn't manufactured the ventilators itself.

Ford Motor Company F also said last week that it would make 50,000 ventilators in the next 100 days, in collaboration with the General Electric Company's GE healthcare subsidiary.

There are 337,310 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States at press time, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, and 9,643 people have died from the virus in the country,

Price Action

Tesla's shares closed 5.62% higher at $480.01 on Friday. The shares traded 1.04% lower in the after-hours session at $475.

Photo Credit: Screenshot of Tesla Video.

Posted In: NewsManagementTechCoronavirusElon Muskventilators
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!

Loading...