Tesla appears to have delayed plans to restart its Fremont, California plant by about a week.
The difficulty automakers face in trying to determine when it will be best to restart its U.S. plants may not be any easier to see than in Tesla Inc.’s recent decisions surrounding the restart of its facilities.
The California-based EV maker apparently just changed its mind after initially telling several employees to return to work on April 29, then recanting that message, according to Bloomberg News.
Several employees in the company’s paint shop were instructed by email Sunday that they should not return work on the aforementioned date, and instead would likely come back on May 4 — the day after the region’s shelter-in-place order is expected to expire.
(GM moving forward with preparations to restart plants.)
Tesla employees aren’t likely to return before May 4, when the region’s shelter-in-place order expires.
At this point, it’s not certain if just that portion of the Fremont, California plant was slated to return to work, or if other parts of the plant were expected to do so as well. Tesla did not comment on the story.
Tesla has about 20,000 employees in the San Francisco area with about half working at the Fremont plant and the others at the company’s Palo Alto headquarters and other facilities across the region. Prior to the mandated shutdown, the company had planned to run the plant with about 2,500 workers.
However, the entire region was blanketed with a stay-home order March 16. Tesla defied the order initially, claiming it was an essential business; however, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office then ordered the plant to close, claiming it was not considered essential.
(Toyota reveals “flexible” plan aimed at safely starting to reopen U.S. plants.)
Right now, if the plans remain unchanged, it would appear those workers can return May 4, which mirrors the return date of many other auto companies across the U.S. However, in the case of the Detroit-based automakers that date isn’t so cut and dry.
Production of the company’s new Model Y, shown here at its debut, had just begun when Tesla was ordered to shut its plant down.
First, General Motors hasn’t formally announced when it plans to return, but it is now following in the footsteps of its local rivals, Ford and Fiat Chrysler, and making preparations to get production back online. However, it remains to be seen if workers will follow return orders.
UAW President Rory Gamble voiced concerns about returning to work too soon, noting that Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently extended a stay-at-home order from April 30 to May 15. The UAW represents more than 130,000 workers employed by GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler.
(Ford, FCA and Toyota truck production could be delayed as supplier rebuilds plant.)
“At this point in time, the UAW does not believe the scientific data is conclusive that it is safe to have our members back in the workplace,” said UAW President Rory Gamble. “We have not done enough testing to really understand the threat our members face.”