(Image source: Tesla's official website)
Gaijin Auto? According to foreign media reports, local time on March 24, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that it has purchased more than a thousand ventilators in China to ship to the United States. Musk tweeted, "China has an oversupply of ventilators, so we purchased 1,225 FDA-approved ResMed, Philips, and Medtronic-brand ventilators, which were then flown to Los Angeles."
On the same day, California Gov. Gavin?Newsom said the state would receive 1,000 ventilators purchased by Tesla to help treat patients with new coronavirus infections in the United States.
Tesla's move comes at a time when governments around the world are calling on automakers and airlines to help purchase or produce medical equipment such as ventilators. The governments want the big automakers to use their low-cost supply chains and technological expertise, including 3D printing, to reconfigure some of their factories to produce medical equipment, such as ventilators, in response to shortages of critical medical hardware at special times.
A few days ago, President Donald?Trump tweeted that Ford, General Motors and Tesla have been approved to make ventilators. Now GM is also stepping up the pace of respirator production, and Musk has said SpaceX will produce respirators. The automakers say production can begin once they understand the requirements for production and receive the blueprints, but assembling the sophisticated medical devices to a standard sufficient for use in hospital intensive care units remains a challenge.
This article comes from the authors of Automotive House Car Family, and does not represent the views of Automotive House's position.