General Motors is extending the idle period at its Detroit electric vehicle plant, keeping Factory ZERO offline until 13 April after the stoppage began on 16 March, Reuters reported citing the company.

“Factory ZERO will temporarily ⁠adjust production to align EV production with market demand,” a General Motors spokesperson told the news agency.

The move triggers a temporary layoff for about 1,300 workers.

Factory ZERO produces models including the Chevrolet Silverado EV and Hummer EV. The site has faced uneven production over the past year as demand for battery-electric vehicles has softened.

In January, General Motors cut output at the plant by about 50%.

The automaker has reported $7.6bn in writedowns on its EV programmes and is among companies that have scaled back EV plans following regulatory changes under US President Donald Trump.

While Factory ZERO remains idled, General Motors has also outlined a separate production increase elsewhere.

The company confirmed it plans to raise output of heavy-duty trucks at its Flint Assembly plant in Michigan starting in June.

Flint Assembly currently operates three shifts, five days a week. The added day is expected to lift production of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy-duty models, with demand described as strong even as petrol and diesel prices rise.

Last week, General Motors began supervised public-road testing of its next-generation autonomous driving technology on limited-access highways in California and Michigan.

The company said more than 200 manual and supervised development vehicles are now operating in live traffic, each with a trained test driver who can take control at any time.

General Motors added that its data-collection vehicles have driven more than one million miles across 34 US states, with the dataset supporting the next-generation system now entering supervised trials.