Elon Musk, the chief of Tesla, Inc. – an American electric vehicle and clean energy company, on Saturday threatened to pull his electric car headquarters and manufacturing plant out of California after local authorities refused to grant him the permission to resume production amid coronavirus pandemic.
Taking to Twitter, Elon Musk threatened to sue over Alameda County Health Department coronavirus restrictions which did not allow the Tesla facility from restarting production its factory in Fremont south of San Francisco. The electric-car maker has filed a complaint with the US District Court in San Francisco.
Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependen on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2020
Irked by the decision of health authorities, Elon Musk lashed out at the California county for blocking Tesla from restarting its operation in its only US car plant in California. Elon Musk also threatened to shift the company’s headquarters to Texas or Nevada, where shelter-in-place rules are less restrictive.
“If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependent on how Tesla is treated in the future,” he tweeted. The San Francisco Bay area facility is currently Tesla’s only US vehicle factory.
Reportedly, Tesla stated that the county’s health order violates due process and “puts businesses deemed critical to the nation’s well-being by the federal and state governments between a rock and a hard place.” Earlier, Tesla had hoped that they could restart the production in its California factory at the beginning of May but was prevented by local authorities.
According to Guardian report, Musk had told employees on Thursday that limited production would restart at Fremont from Friday afternoon. The Tesla California plant was closed on March 23 under a six-county order in the San Francisco area, which has been extended through May 31. Tesla manufactures over 415,000 cars a year at the Fremont facility and moving the entire production facility will be a massive challenge.
Musk also highlighted the company’s operations in China, where the production of electric cars has resumed after the country’s coronavirus lockdown was lifted. “Tesla knows far more about what needs to be done to be safe through our Tesla China factory experience than an (unelected) interim junior official,” he tweeted.
Anti-lockdown protests in USA
Massive protests have continued in the United States, as several people have taken to streets over the past month demanding the withdrawal of lockdown imposed due to coronavirus epidemic.
The Americans have protested on the pretext that the lockdown in the country has curtailed that their constitutional rights and freedom. Several protestors were also frustrated that they could not work as they have lost their jobs due to state lockdowns.
The protests in the United States seeking withdrawal of lockdown restrictions come despite the country has been devastated by the Chinese epidemic. The cry for the easing of restrictions comes at a time when the US has lost more than 80,000 people to coronavirus. More than 1.3 million people have been affected by the Chinese epidemic in the United States of America.
