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By Tina Bellon and Sinéad Carew
Musk has been pushing to reopen the Tesla factory in Fremont, California, after the Alameda County health department said the automaker should not reopen because local blockade measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus remain in effect.
In a blog post on Saturday, Tesla said the county’s position left it with no choice but to take legal action to ensure Tesla and its employees can return to work.
The company said it had put together a comprehensive return-to-work plan that includes online video training for staff, work zone division areas, temperature detection, requirements for wearing protective equipment and rigorous cleaning and disinfection protocols.
The company said it had informed health authorities in Alameda County, where the Fremont factory is located, about its restart plans, but said the acting official did not return calls or emails.
The Alameda County Public Health Department, which on Saturday said it had been “communicating directly and working closely with the Tesla team,” did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tesla filed a lawsuit against the county in San Francisco federal court on Saturday, calling the continuing restrictions a “takeover” by the county since the California governor had said Thursday that manufacturers in the state could reopen.
The company said Alameda was against the California and federal constitutions, in addition to defying the governor’s order, according to the lawsuit.
Alameda County will be closed until the end of May, and only essential businesses will be reopened. The county said it does not consider Tesla to be an essential business. County officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
The frank musk also went to Twitter on Saturday to complain and threatened to leave the state.
“If we even maintain Fremont’s manufacturing activity, it will depend on how Tesla is treated in the future,” he tweeted, referring to the San Francisco Bay Area facility that is the only Tesla vehicle factory in the United States.
Alameda County said Saturday that it has been working with Tesla to develop a safety plan that “allows the reopening while protecting the health and well-being of the thousands of employees” who work at the factory and hopes to reach an agreement on a security plan very soon.
Fremont Mayor Lily Mei expressed concern about the possible financial implications of continuing to seek shelter-in-place with no provisions for manufacturers like Tesla to resume. Mei on Saturday urged the county to work with the companies on “acceptable guidelines for reopening.”
Musk had told employees Thursday that limited production would restart in Fremont on Friday afternoon.
Last year, Tesla built nearly half a million vehicles at the Fremont plant, and relocating the entire production facility would be a daunting task.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives calculated on Saturday that the company could take 12-18 months to relocate production.
The threat of relocating the facility comes as Tesla aims to increase production at Fremont of its model Y sports car, which it hopes to generate record demand and profit margins.
Musk, who argued with California officials in March about whether Tesla had to stop production in Fremont, had criticized the shutdown and orders to stay home, calling them “serious risk” to American business and “unconstitutional.”
Tesla shares have risen 127% since March 18, their latest closing low, including a 16.8% gain in the last week of trading to close at $ 819.42 on Friday.
(Report by Sabahatjahan Contractor and Maria Ponnezhath in Bangalore, Tina Bellon and Sinéad Carew in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Chris Reese and Dan Grebler)
