BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — New York State Assemblyman Sean Ryan sent a letter to Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday requesting ventilator production at the Tesla Gigafactory II in Buffalo.
Tesla has suspended production in Buffalo in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
“There is no doubt that COVID-19 has created an unprecedented challenge for New York, for our nation, and for the entire world,” said Assemblyman Sean Ryan. “At this difficult time, it is critical that each of us do our part to ensure our state can respond to the growing pandemic. I thank Elon Musk and the team at Tesla for announcing that they are working on a plan. Tesla’s factory in Buffalo would be an ideal location to ramp up ventilator production, and I urge them to make this commitment immediately."
Musk said his company was “working on ventilators" but he didn’t specify how long it might take.
Just had a long engineering discussion with Medtronic about state-of-the-art ventilators. Very impressive team!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2020
You can read a copy of Assemblyman Ryan's letter below:
Nick Langworthy, the NYGOP Chairman has also called for the plant to be re-purposed to address the medical supply needs of New York's pandemic response.
Perhaps the @Tesla plant in Buffalo owned by New York State and gifted to @elonmusk should be repurposed to manufacture ventilators and critical medical equipment as soon as humanly possible. Emergency times call fro drastic measures.
— Nick Langworthy (@NickLangworthy) March 19, 2020
