Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has recently drawn national attention for his strong rebukes of government authority amidst the pandemic, revealed on Saturday morning that the company’s headquarters in Fremont, California, would immediately begin moving to either Texas or Nevada.
The CEO’s announcement, which took the form of a tweet response to someone who encouraged Tesla to file a lawsuit against Alameda County, called the local government barring the company from re-opening with reduced capacity on Friday “the final straw.”
Musk responded to the individual by saying that his company would indeed file a lawsuit against the county, and that the decision on whether to completely remove manufacturing from the area — instead of just the headquarters and unnamed Tesla programs — would be dependent on how well the company is treated going forward.
“Tesla is filing a lawsuit against Alameda County immediately. The unelected & ignorant ‘Interim Health Officer’ of Alameda is acting contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional Freedom & just plain common sense,” said Musk.
“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[t] on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA,” said the CEO.
Tesla is filing a lawsuit against Alameda County immediately. The unelected & ignorant “Interim Health Officer” of Alameda is acting contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2020
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
According to The New York Times, Alameda County announced early last week that it would enact stricter public health measures, alongside six other counties in the Bay Area, than the coronavirus guidelines that Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has been rolling out.
The news agency reports that Musk told employees on Thursday that returning to work was voluntary, and that he would be “on the line personally helping wherever I can.” Anyone who did not wish to return to work was free to take paid or unpaid leave, whichever was available to them.
Dr. Erica Pan, the Alameda County interim health officer, said during a town hall on Friday that Tesla did not have the “green light” to resume operations, according CNBC News.
“We have not given the green light. We have been working with them looking at some of their safety plans. But no, we have not said that it is appropriate to move forward,” she said.
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