Musk says he has restarted California Tesla factory
CEO’s move violates the local government order
Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed on Twitter on Monday that the company has restarted its California factory in violation of local government orders.
Musk asked in the afternoon tweet that he be arrested if authorities take anyone into custody. The plant in Fremont south of San Francisco had been closed since March 23 under orders to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The parking lot was nearly full at Tesla’s California electric car factory Monday, which employs 10,000 workers when the factory is fully operating. A normal complement of workers would violate orders from the Alameda County Health Department, which has deemed Tesla’s Fremont factory a nonessential business that can’t open under restrictions intended to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
A statement posted by Tesla on its website Saturday night said the company “has started the process of resuming operations” but didn’t say when manufacturing would begin.
The full parking lot came two days after Tesla sued the Alameda County health department seeking to overturn its order, and CEO Elon Musk threatened to move Tesla’s manufacturing operations and headquarters from the state.
“Our employees are excited to get back to work, and we’re doing so with their health and safety in mind,” Tesla’s Saturday statement said.
Tesla contends in the lawsuit that Alameda County can’t be more restrictive than orders from California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The lawsuit says the governor’s coronavirus restrictions refer to federal guidelines classifying vehicle manufacturing as essential businesses that are allowed to continue operating.
“Frankly, this is the final straw,” Musk wrote in a now-deleted tweet. “Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately.”
He wrote that whether the company keeps any manufacturing in Fremont depends on how Tesla is treated in the future.
On Monday, Newsom professed not to know if Tesla had reopened. “Not aware [of] the details of that,” he said.
“I have great expectations that we can work through at the county levels,” the governor said about conflicts involving the Fremont plant. He said county health directors are in charge of restrictions and the timing of any resumption of manufacturing.
The Bay Area order currently calls for limited return of business and manufacturing, with health restrictions, starting May 18.
“We look forward to many, many decades of that relationship” with Tesla, Newsom said.
The governor has repeatedly said that counties can impose restrictions that are more stringent than state orders. Alameda County was among six San Francisco Bay Area counties that were the first in the nation to impose stay-at-home orders in mid-March.
Early in the coronavirus crisis, Newsom praised Musk as the “perfect example” of the private sector assisting the state in the pandemic. His comments came after Musk pledged to provide more than 1,000 ventilators to California hospitals, a fact Newsom repeated often and called a “heroic effort.”
But whether Musk made good on the promise remains in dispute. Several weeks after Newsom was touting the ventilators, the state said it hadn’t heard of any being delivered. Musk responded, demanding on Twitter that Newsom correct the record and sharing tweets and screenshots from hospitals and Los Angeles County thanking him for sending supplies.
Musk has been ranting about the stay-home order since the company’s April 29 first-quarter earnings were released. He called the restrictions fascist and urged governments to stop taking people’s freedom.
The Bay Area order forced Tesla to close the plant starting March 23 to help prevent the virus’ spread, and it was extended until the end of May. Public health experts say the orders have reduced the number of new coronavirus cases nationwide.
Alameda County Sheriff Sgt. Ray Kelly said Monday he didn’t know if Tesla has reopened and that this is in the “attorney phase.” Any enforcement would come from Fremont police, he said.