Elon Musk, taking to Twitter, has announced that he has some “extra” FDA-approved ventilators with him, which Tesla can ship free of cost. The shipments will not bear any cost on either the logistics or the ventilator.
Musk however, mentioned two conditions for shipping these. One, these will only be shipped in areas which lie within the delivery zones of Tesla. And two, his company will only ship it those institutes/hospitals/areas which are in immediate need of the life saving equipment. Those looking to stock up supplies aren’t welcome.
Here’s what his tweet reads:
We have extra FDA-approved ventilators. Will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Device & shipping cost are free. Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients, not stored in a warehouse. Please me or @Tesla know.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 31, 2020
While there is no clarification from Musk or Tesla on whether these are the first ones to come out of Tesla’s New York gigafactory or purchased ones, it looks like the latter hilds true, looking at Musk’s wordings. Nevertheless, the situation demands as many ventilators as can come by, and is hence a welcome move.
Tesla has been actively working with medical equipment makers as well as the government, to put its engineering might behind producing ventilators. While nothing material has been announced till date, Medtronic CEO did mention in a CNBC interview recently, that Tesla has partnered with is company to produce ventilators at the electric carmaker’s New York gigafactory.
When asked if that is true and what are the plans moving forward, Musk tweeted, “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”. He further added that there is ‘good progress’ on the production front. No further details came to light.
Previously, Elon Musk had tweeted his willingness to produce ventilators, if needed. He then mentioned using both Tesla and SpaceX’s technical prowess to do the same. Then, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio almost immediately made a plea to Musk, telling him that there is a massive shortage of ventilators both in New York and the country as a whole, and would be helpful if Musk’s companies can start producing the same.
