Elon Musk Reopens Tesla, County Fights Company

FREMONT, CA — Tesla announced on Saturday that it would reopen its Fremont assembly plant on Monday, in direct defiance of a health order issued by Alameda County. It made good on that threat, restarting production first thing Monday.

Founder and CEO Elon Musk tweeted Monday afternoon that he was at the Fremont plant, and if the county wanted to arrest anyone, they should arrest him.

The county shot back in a press release that it considers the company in violation and "we hope that Tesla will ... comply without further enforcement matters."

Tesla is Fremont's largest employer, providing jobs for some 10,000 workers at the plant and another 10,000 around California, many in offices around Fremont and Silicon Valley. Musk, incensed that the plant was shut down in the first place and then not allowed to reopen when Gov. Gavin Newsom gave the go-ahead to begin some manufacturing last week, launched a tweet storm over the weekend, threatening to sue Alameda County and to permanently move all operations out of California.

In a measured company release on Saturday, Tesla said that the health and safety of workers are a top priority, "Our restart plan is the result of months of careful planning and preparation. It was modeled after the comprehensive return to work plan we established at our Shanghai Gigafactory, which has seen smooth and healthy operations for the last three months."

Tesla made good on its threat to file a lawsuit in federal court. Included in the filing, "Alameda County’s power-grab not only defies the Governor’s Order, but offends the federal and California constitutions."

Fremont Mayor Lily Mei, concerned about local jobs and the city's tax base, said in a statement, "As the local shelter-in-place order continues without provisions for major manufacturing activity, such as Tesla, to resume, I am growing concerned about the potential implications for our regional economy. We know many essential businesses have proven they can successfully operate using strict safety and social distancing practices. I strongly believe these same practices could be possible for other manufacturing businesses, especially those that are so critical to our employment base."

Gov. Newsom was questioned about Tesla on Monday and said that manufacturing is allowed in California, but also that county health officials have the final say. He said that he is confident that things will be smoothed over between the county and Tesla within a few days.

Like Mayor Mei, Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, whose district includes Fremont, made public comments expressing concern about the economy and getting people back to work.

Tesla has not responded to a request for comment by Patch.

Throughout the coronavirus crisis, Musk has voiced opinions about the coronavirus crisis at odds with public health guidance. In March, he tweeted that the "coronavirus panic is dumb," and kept Tesla's Fremont factory open after the Bay Area issued its shelter-in-place order. The county forced it to shut down.

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